The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model (Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2004) was developed to provide teachers with a well articulated, practical model of sheltered instruction. 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. The intent of the model is to facilitate high quality instruction for ELLs in content area teaching.

The model is based on current knowledge and research-based practices for promoting learning with ELLs.  Critical features of high quality instruction for ELLs 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 II is intended to be advanced training for individuals who have attended a SIOP Institute. The content will build upon information presented at the SIOP I and will extend it by addressing issues of implementation and refinement of practice. Specific areas that will be addressed include differentiating instruction for multiple language levels in the same class, how to get others "on board" for meeting the needs of English learners, establishing interrater reliability through video rating, and peer coaching.  In addition, there will be scheduled opportunities for colleagues to share their experiences on a number of levels: how to get resources, implementation successes and challenges and so forth.