NBPTS English as a New Language (ENL) study plan
NBPTS English as a New Language (ENL) · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Language and Language Acquisition
Map the major second-language acquisition theories (behaviorist, innatist, interactionist, sociocultural) and state in one sentence what each predicts about classroom practice.
Distinguish BICS from CALP and explain how the distinction affects instructional decisions for content-area learning.
Trace the stages of second-language development and identify two observable learner behaviors that signal each stage.
Define the five hypotheses associated with Krashen's monitor model and note one common classroom misconception attached to each.
Your checkpoint
A one-page comparison table of four SLA theories with a column linking each to a concrete instructional move, checked against at least two scholarly sources.
Language and Language Acquisition & Planning and Implementing Instruction
Analyze the role of comprehensible input, output, and negotiation of meaning in lesson design.
Differentiate first-language transfer effects from developmental errors and interlanguage features when interpreting student work.
Explain how L1 literacy and prior schooling shape English literacy development for students with interrupted or limited formal education.
Apply Cummins's interdependence principle to justify a specific instructional choice in a lesson you would actually teach.
Your checkpoint
A written analysis of three sample student utterances or writing samples, labeling each as transfer, developmental, or interlanguage, with a justified instructional response for each.
Planning and Implementing Instruction
Write content and language objectives for one grade-level lesson that align with ELD standards and content standards.
Design scaffolds (graphic organizers, sentence frames, visuals, modeling) matched to a specific proficiency level and content task.
Sequence a lesson using a sheltered-instruction framework that integrates language and content throughout, not as an add-on.
Build in structured opportunities for academic language practice across all four modalities.
Your checkpoint
A complete 45-60 minute sheltered lesson plan with dual objectives, scaffolds, and a rationale paragraph explaining each scaffold's function.
Planning and Implementing Instruction & Culture and Diversity
Adapt the week-3 lesson for two different proficiency levels without lowering content rigor.
Identify culturally responsive entry points in your content and revise one activity to draw on students' funds of knowledge.
Evaluate how culture shapes interactional norms (turn-taking, eye contact, questioning, group work) and adjust participation structures accordingly.
Distinguish cultural difference from cultural deficit interpretations when analyzing a classroom scenario.
Your checkpoint
A revised lesson packet containing two proficiency-differentiated versions plus a one-page culturally responsive rationale citing specific student assets.
Assessment
Select and justify formative assessment tools that make academic language visible during instruction.
Design a performance-based summative assessment with a language-demand analysis and an aligned rubric.
Explain how to separate content mastery from language proficiency when scoring student responses.
Interpret proficiency-level descriptors to set defensible expectations for a student's assessed performance.
Your checkpoint
A summative performance task with a two-trait rubric (content and language) and a written justification of how each trait is scored independently.
Assessment & Culture and Diversity
Identify sources of bias in assessment items and revise three items to remove linguistic and cultural barriers unrelated to the construct.
Plan how to use assessment data to regroup students and adjust the next instructional cycle.
Explain the legal and instructional requirements for identifying, placing, and exiting English learners, and note where assessment decisions can go wrong.
Analyze a data set of student scores to name a pattern and propose a targeted instructional response.
Your checkpoint
An assessment review memo that documents three revised items, the bias rationale for each, and a data-informed instructional next step.
Professionalism and Advocacy & Home, School, and Community Connections
Describe the roles and responsibilities of ENL teachers as advocates within grade-level teams and school structures.
Outline a family engagement approach that respects cultural and linguistic assets and removes access barriers (interpretation, scheduling, literacy).
Identify community and school resources that support English learners and their families and explain how to connect families to them.
Apply professional ethics and confidentiality standards to a scenario involving student records and family communication.
Your checkpoint
A family-engagement and advocacy plan for one unit, listing three concrete communication actions, two community resources, and the access barrier each action removes.
Language and Language Acquisition & Culture and Diversity & Planning and Implementing Instruction & Assessment & Professionalism and Advocacy & Home, School, and Community Connections
Synthesize all six domains into a single integrated instructional unit outline.
Self-assess against each domain using a checklist and rank your three weakest areas with a remediation plan.
Complete a timed full-length practice set and analyze every missed item by domain and reasoning error type.
Draft concise written responses to two constructed-response prompts under time constraints.
Your checkpoint
A full practice-test score report with a domain-by-domain error analysis and a written remediation plan for the three weakest areas.
Milestones
Week 2: Can explain BICS/CALP and Cummins's interdependence principle in plain language and correctly classify three language samples without notes.
Week 4: Two proficiency-differentiated versions of the same lesson preserve identical content rigor and each scaffold is justified in writing.
Week 6: Rubric scores content and language independently, and three revised assessment items each name the specific bias removed.
Week 8: Full practice score recorded by domain, with the three weakest areas identified and a dated remediation plan in place.