Cleveland Collaboration for English Learner Success

Collaboration Facilitator

Collaboration Objective

The objective of REL Midwest’s collaboration with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District was to analyze the effects of the district’s Multilingual Multicultural Education Program on language proficiency and content area knowledge development for English learners. REL Midwest’s work with Cleveland stakeholders began in 2017 and culminated with the study’s publication in summer 2019.

Members

José González, Director of the Office of Multilingual Multicultural Education, Cleveland Metropolitan School District
Loulou Elias, Multilingual Manager for Grades 9-12, Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Training, Coaching, and Technical Support Projects

Research Agenda-Setting Workshops

REL Midwest used a structured workshop to introduce the concept and process of developing a grounded research agenda to Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) staff. The purposes of the workshop were to help our partners identify their research priorities and translate them into a set of research questions that lend themselves to an actionable three- to five-year research agenda. Workshop materials and CMSD’s resulting research agenda are available online.

Additionally, REL Midwest built on this project by training leaders from CMSD’s educational researcher-practitioner partnership, the Cleveland Alliance for Education Research, to conduct their own research agenda-setting workshops for schools throughout the district. The resulting research questions will align with stakeholder priorities, guide future CMSD research, and help build a larger research alliance in the long term. A facilitator’s guide is available online.

Publications

Student and School Characteristics Associated with Academic Outcomes for English Learner Students

This REL Midwest study examined the characteristics of English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, the characteristics of the schools they attend, and the association of student and school characteristics with English learner student performance on statewide assessments. A related infographic [460 KB ] highlights the study’s key findings.