The role of background knowledge in the implementation of standard 10 for reading in NYSED bilingual common core progressions

Abstract

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) Bilingual Common Core Progressions (BCCP)
describe content and language scaffolds for the ELA Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening
Standards. Their purpose is to support bilingual and ESL teachers in implementing the Common Core
State Standards (CCSS)1
with students who are in the process of learning a language as they learn
through language. The focus of this article is to describe the role that background knowledge plays in
reading comprehension, specifically domain-specific or specialized background knowledge that can
act as a facilitator for reading complex texts; it includes an analysis of the principles that underlie
Standard 10 for reading, as presented in the CCSS and the BCCP. The first principle states that reading
in the students’ new and home languages2 will be a source for enriching background knowledge; the
second principle posits that a strong knowledge base about a topic will allow a new language
student3 to read grade-appropriate texts. In the CCSS, grade appropriate is defined by lexiles, a
measure that considers vocabulary and sentence length as the key factors determining text
complexity, but disregards the student’s previous knowledge. In contrast, the BCCP Standard 10 takes
the view that background knowledge, specifically domain-specific background knowledge, plays a
fundamental role when reading grade-appropriate texts. The article concludes with suggestions on
how bilingual and ESL specialists can implement the BCCP Standard 10, followed by the presentation
of the BCCP template RI.10.