About

Improving the Quality of Instruction for English Learners

The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model (Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2000) was developed to provide teachers with a well articulated, practical model of sheltered instruction. The intent of the model is to facilitate high quality instruction for English Learners in content area teaching.

The SIOP Model is based on current knowledge and research-based practices for promoting learning with all students, especially English Learners (ELs). Critical features of high quality instruction for ELs are embedded within the SIOP Model.

The SIOP Model can be viewed as an umbrella under which other programs developed for improving instruction can reside. Administrators and teachers alike are bombarded with new approaches to instruction, reform efforts, and practices that sometimes seem to be in competition with one another. Often what is lacking in schools is coherence, or a plan for pulling together sound practices (Goldenberg, 2004). The SIOP Model is not another “add on” program but rather it is a framework that can bring together a school’s instructional program by organizing methods and techniques, and ensuring that effective practices are implemented - and can be quantified. The SIOP Model is currently used in most of the 50 states and in hundreds of schools across the U.S. as well as in several other countries.        

Sheltered Instruction and the SIOP Model

Sheltered instruction (SI) is an approach to teaching that extends the time students have for receiving English language support while they learn content subjects. SI classrooms, which may include a mix of native English speakers and English learners or only ELs, integrate language and content while infusing socio-cultural awareness. Teachers scaffold instruction to aid student comprehension of content topics and objectives by adjusting their speech and instructional tasks, and by providing appropriate background information and experiences. The ultimate goal is accessibility for ELs to grade-level content standards and concepts while they continue to improve their English language proficiency. SI has become a preferred instructional approach for teaching English learners, especially at the secondary level, as schools must prepare students to achieve high academic standards and to demonstrate English proficiency on high-stakes tests.

The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP®) Model (Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2000) was developed to provide teachers with a well articulated, practical model of sheltered instruction. The SIOP Model is comprised of 30 features organized into eight components. Its effectiveness was validated by a research study conducted through Guarino, et al (2001), who determined that it was a highly reliable and valid measure of sheltered instruction.

Although sheltered instruction is widely advocated as an effective instructional strategy for English learners, few research tools allow for the assessment of an effective sheltered lesson. The SIOP Model provides the assessment piece through the observation protocol. The items included in SIOP drew upon the knowledge and experience of professionals working in SI and the research literature. Potential items were narrowed to the final features through field-testing (Short & Echevarria, 1999).

The SIOP evaluates lessons on three dimensions:

1. Preparation (six items) — determining the lesson objectives and content objectives, selecting age-appropriate content concepts and vocabulary, and assembling supplementary materials to contextualize their lesson;
2. Instruction (20 items) — emphasizing the instructional practices that are critical for English language learners, such as making connections with students’ background experiences and prior learning, modulating teacher speech, emphasizing vocabulary development, using multimodal techniques, promoting higher-order thinking skills, grouping students appropriately for language and content development and providing hands-on materials, and
3. Review/Assessment (four items) — conducting informal assessment of student comprehension and learning of all lesson objectives.

Educators observe one another by using the features to assess the level of sheltered instruction in their classroom. Ranging from 0 to 4, observers circle the number that best reflects their assessment of the teacher; ranging from highly evident, somewhat evident and not evident. The information is used to reevaluate sheltered instruction practices, refine and improve lessons. This form of lesson analysis helps educators prepare the appropriate lesson plan, share, and expand their work.

Goals of the SIOP Institute

• To understand the research-based framework of the sheltered instruction approach for English language learners.
• To become familiar with the eight components of effective sheltered instruction lessons.
• To practice observing and evaluating sheltered instruction lessons.