Supporting Multilingual Learners with the SIOP® Model at Lewiston Public Schools

Lewiston Public Schools in central Maine is a district that today is unlike any other in the state.

As far back as the late 1800s, when French Canadians began immigrating in large numbers to Lewiston to take advantage of job opportunities at its then thriving textile and shoe mills, the city has been a beacon for people looking to provide a better life for their families. It continues to be that beacon today, but now, instead of families immigrating from Quebec, they are families immigrating largely from East Africa, in particular Somalia.

“We're very unique because we are one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse districts in the state,” said Lysa McLemore, director of multilingual learning at Lewiston Public Schools where the student population represents 42 different languages, including Somali, Portuguese, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Spanish, Arabic, and French.

While the responsibility of supporting a growing multilingual learner (ML) population has had its challenges, educators at Lewiston Public Schools have embraced their roles as teachers of not only academic skills and content but also as teachers of language and inclusion.

The journey to creating this inclusive and supportive culture, however, was not straightforward or easy. It required confronting districtwide challenges, implementing structured instructional frameworks such as Savvas Learning Company's SIOP® Model, and fostering a culture of inclusion among administrators, teachers, students, and families.

Challenges of Finding the Right Resources and Training

It has been a challenge for leadership at Lewiston to find the right resources and training to equip all teachers with what they need to support their multilingual learner student population.

“A lot of resources in our country are for students who are maybe dual language learners of Spanish and English.” said Karen Paquette, assistant superintendent. “When you have 40 plus languages in your district, the Spanish version of something is not going to be helpful.”

Some students coming into the district not only didn’t speak English, but had never even set foot in a classroom, so providing teachers with the support they need to be able to effectively teach their unique student population is no simple task.

Additionally, the district believes that it benefits all students to keep multilingual learners in the general education classroom so they can learn alongside their English-speaking peers and acquire the English language while learning grade-level content.

“It's important that we have multilingual learners stay in the core classroom because it benefits everyone,” said classroom teacher Jae Zimmerman. “It benefits the multilingual students because they have more access to the English language … and it benefits our English language speakers because they have access to a whole other world of information that they wouldn't get otherwise.”

District leaders realized that, in order to be able to provide the level of high-quality education that their students would need, they had to provide all staff with high-quality training using instructional frameworks that are proven to be effective for multilingual learners in the general-education classroom. So, they came up with a mulit-year plan to extend training on the SIOP® Model to all staff across all schools in the district.

Building Solutions with SIOP®

While the district’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers had used SIOP® — which stands for Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol — for several years previously, Lewiston Public Schools in 2021 decided to expand the framework districtwide. This decision was prompted by both the growing needs of the student population.

“Because we're a growing district, we are constantly hiring new staff,” said Lysa, Lewiston’s director of multilingual learning. “We also have a lot of brand new staff who are new to the field, and so we really have to start from ground zero and find ways to prepare those staff, give them the information that they need without overwhelming them.”

SIOP®, offered by Savvas Leaning Company, is a research-based framework that focuses on integrating content and language instruction and making lessons accessible to all students, particularly multilingual learners. It comprises eight “Components” and 30 “Features” that guide teachers in designing instruction that promotes student interaction, scaffolds academic language, and builds background knowledge.

The SIOP® Model allows teachers to embed language objectives into their lesson plans and to provide opportunities for student-to-student discourse. The framework also promotes the use of visuals, manipulatives, and other supports to make abstract concepts concrete. While these strategies are beneficial for multilingual learners, they also enhance learning for all students, making SIOP® a powerful tool to helping Lewiston fulfill its goals.

“SIOP is just good teaching,” said social studies teacher Celia Mawhinney. “It's what we should be doing to help all of our students, not just our ML students.”

Implementing the SIOP® Framework with Ongoing Teacher Support

The district’s approach to implementing SIOP® was to provide all core content teachers with an initial training, and then to ensure ongoing support through instructional coaching, professional learning communities, and administrator feedback.

Once the initial training was given to each staff member, administrators continued the support by conducting walkthroughs to observe implementation and provide constructive feedback. Instructional coaches worked side-by-side with teachers to model strategies, co-plan lessons, and analyze student data. And curriculum specialists embedded SIOP® features into district curricula, ensuring alignment between instructional goals and language development.

These efforts ensured that SIOP® was not just another initiative but an integral part of teaching and learning in Lewiston.

“We knew in education there are always new initiatives, and we knew that if we did not do this the right way, it would just become another initiative, and we refuse to allow that to happen,” said Lysa.”

The district also prioritized teacher voice and choice by encouraging each individual school within the district to identify specific SIOP® “Components” to focus on each year. This approach not only addressed immediate needs for those schools, which may differ from other schools in the district, but also empowered educators to take ownership of their professional growth.

Additionally, Lewiston expanded its professional development by training instructional coaches and teacher leaders to become internal SIOP trainers. This broadened the responsibility for implementation and training beyond just one or two departments.

All in all, the support and education of the multilingual learner population at Lewiston is a districtwide effort. From school councilors to school administrators everyone is moving toward the same goal of setting up these students to be successful contributors to their communities.

“The culture of Lewiston Public Schools has shifted,” said Lysa. “Teaching language is no longer the responsibility of the ESOL teacher. We're all teachers of language.”

Celebrating Success

Since implementing its strategic initiatives and districtwide implementation of SIOP®, the district has seen an increase in students exiting the multilingual program after demonstrating language proficiency.

Their plan has also resulted in the transformation of classroom interactions. Student-to-student discourse is now a regular occurrence in classrooms. Multilingual learners are not only participating in but are now leading discussions, demonstrating their ability to engage with more complex academic content.

“Kids are able to interact with each other and just talk more, which is going to help their language development,” said social studies teacher Celia. “It's also helped them accept each other more.”

General education and special education teachers have embraced their roles as language teachers, creating inclusive classrooms where all students can thrive. This shared responsibility has allowed the multilingual department to focus more on English language development, knowing that content teachers are equipped to support language learning in their classrooms.

Beyond the classroom, the district’s commitment to equity has fostered a sense of pride among staff and students. Lewiston’s educators approach their work with humility, constantly reflecting on their practices and seeking ways to improve.

“Every day, every minute of every day, there [are] good things happening in our schools,” said the assistant superintendent. “We have kids that are amazing. We have staff that [are] amazing. We are a community (that) is strong. So yeah, pretty proud.”