Professional Development Self-Assessment Survey

Here you can check and see if you are teaching to the language learners in your classroom.  Use the ESL teacher at your school as a resource if you need clarification or guidance.

Areas of Professional Development	Low Need                   High Need
Standards-based Learning
1. Implementing standards-based instruction with students who have varying levels of English proficiency.	1      2      3      4
2. Using active teaching methods to engage English language learners.	1       2      3      4
3. Using different strategies for including all students in classroom discourse.	1       2      3      4
4. Accommodating different learning styles.	1       2      3     4
5. Using multiple forms of assessment to gather evidence of student performance.	1       2      3      4
6. Providing a variety of opportunities for students with varying levels of English proficiency to learn concepts over time.	1       2       3      4
The Cultural Context of Teaching
7. Understanding how a teacher's own language and culture shape understanding of student performance.	1      2       3       4
8. Understanding differences in the communication and cognitive styles of different cultures and how they may affect student participation in learning tasks.	1       2       3      4
9. Developing learning tasks that connect to students' cultural background.	1       2       3      4
10. Determining the prior knowledge necessary for a student to understand a learning task.	1       2       3      4
11. Avoiding cultural bias in assessment: creating and applying rubrics that are not culturally biased.	1       2       3      4
Learning and Language
12. Understanding the factors that affect the development of a second language.	1      2       3       4
13. Knowing the role of the primary language in a second language learning.	1       2      3       4
14. Using language in literacy development.	1       2       3       4
15. Evaluating the language demands and cultural content of learning tasks.	1       2      3       4
16. Understanding the requirements of academic language vs. informal communication.	1      2       3      4
17. Understanding how language structures and styles in written texts affect student understanding and comprehension.	1     2       3       4
18. Knowing the types of accommodations that enhance the learning of English language learners.	1       2      3       4