ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES
Part of FACTS’ mission is to serve the immigrant and refugee communities in Philadelphia. One way we do this is to provide an exemplary English to Speaker of Other Languages (ESOL) program. We describe our ESOL program as a flexible program model that is tailored to meet the individual needs of students. We accomplish this through a collaborative teaching model between ESOL specialists and content teachers.
Many regional schools, universities and researchers request to observe, study and visit our program. We were selected as a site visit school for the National TESOL Convention in 2012 and for the National Association for Multicultural Education Conference in 2012. Our ESOL specialists have presented numerously on best practices at regional and national conferences. We presented most recently at the National Charter School Conference in Washington, D.C. in July of 2013 with co-panelists from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
FACTS’ ESOL program was featured in a national toolkit publication to support English Language Learners (ELLs) and ESOL programs. Additionally, the program staff were invited to support the New York City Charter School Center by presenting in a webinar in December of 2013.
FACTS ESOL program has achieved the Annual Measurable Achievement Objective (AMAO) for five consecutive years. AMAO holds schools accountable for the quality of their ESOL programs. Criteria includes achievement of ELLs’ PSSA scores in reading and math, percentage of ELLs making overall academic progress and percentage of students exiting the program.
Click here to access the multi-media case study about FACTS on the National Charter School Research Center’s website:
http://www.charterschoolcenter.org/mmcasestudy/folk-arts-cultural-treasures-charter-school-facts