If ESL is done by pullouts in your school, how is it done?

I have this conflict every year- the ESL teacher pulls kids out of my ELA class for 2 to 4 periods a week. To me, that seems counterproductive because they miss out on MY class. I want them to be well-rounded, and 1 period a week would be ok, but this year I only see my classes for 8 periods a week. And when the test scores are not adequate, *I* am the one called to the carpet- which is fine- but then I need to have my kids during their ELA class.

Also, the ESL teacher does not plan with me- she does what she wants and I frankly find the content she uses questionable- but that's the admin's issue.

Any suggestions? I am going to email my principal but other than suggesting the pullouts be spread about (i.e. one period from ELA, one from science, one from SS, etc.) I don't have any ideas.

Re: If ESL is done by pullouts in your school, how is it done?

We have a similar structure. Unfortunately, this structure I believe is somewhat mandated by the state. As an ELL student, they are mandated a certain amount of periods of ELL instruction and a certain (fewer) amount of ELA periods. Scheduling sukcs, but they can't be pulled from other academic instruction and options are limited.

Re: If ESL is done by pullouts in your school, how is it done?

As an ELL teacher, making the schedule is one of the most difficult tasks of the year. Many times my students are pulled from multiple grades/classes. We have tried in our school to cluster the kids more in classes per grade level. With this it has allowed more planning with the teacher for the pullouts, sometimes doing the same thing as they are doing in the classroom but more on their level. Or, we try to do some push ins with the classroom teacher so that the kids aren't missing as much class time but they are still getting the work at an easier level. This is how I feel about the intermediate/advanced students. When you are talking about true beginners, I don't think it really matters when they are pulled because they are missing it even if they are sitting in front of you. Most beginners will not be able comprehend and participate in a grade level ELA lesson so I wouldn't worry as much about them being pulled during it. It is a difficult situation for everyone but it sounds like your ESL teacher may need to collaborate a little more with the classroom teachers and clustering (if possible, depends on the numbers) might be helpful. Feel free to ask more questions, FM if you like, hope this helped a bit.