This book sets out to clearly define sheltered instruction, or Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE), and to provide strategies for its successful implementation in the classroom. This book speaks specifically to instruction in the content areas, confronting the fact that students learning English might struggle in those subjects. The authors provide practical methods that demonstrate how to implement this type of instruction with the full range of learners.
Focusing on the use of sheltered instruction with students of varying abilities, Echevarria and Graves address the important overlap between sheltered instruction and special education adaptations.
One important function of Sheltered Content Instruction is to provide teachers with the support and direction needed in undertaking the sheltered approach. Often, Echevarria and Graves find, this support is not provided. Specific examples of sheltered content instruction and scenarios depicting classroom interaction during this type of instruction provide models for teachers and those preparing to teach. Case studies and vignettes illustrate this interaction for the reader.
Jana Echevarria, Ph.D., Professor Emerita at California State University, Long Beach, has taught in special education, English as a Second Language and bilingual programs. She has lived in Taiwan and Mexico where she taught ESL and second language acquisition courses at the university level, as well as in Spain where she conducted research on instructional programs for immigrant students. She is an internationally known expert on second language learners and her research and publications focus on effective instruction for English learners, including those with learning disabilities. Selected publications include the books, Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model and Sheltered Content Instruction:
Teaching Students With Diverse Abilities, both published by Allyn & Bacon. The SIOP Model of instruction is used widely in all 50 states and a number of countries. Currently, she is a Fulbright Specialist and is Co-Principal Investigator with the Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE) funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In 2005, Dr.
Echevarria was selected as Outstanding Professor at CSULB.
Anne W. Graves, Ph. D. is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Special Education at San Diego State University. She has teaching and research experience in the schools since 1975. She has conducted numerous research projects on the effects of reading and writing instruction with particular focus on ethnolinguistically diverse students. Her major focus is to develop improved teaching practices for English learners.