New NPD Grants Awarded
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is awarding $26 million to support educators of EL students. Under the National Professional Development Program (NPD), these grants will support professional growth of educators that will improve instruction for ELs. NPD grants can enhance the capacity of the education workforce to create equitable learning environments that promote language, literacy, and diversity.
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Beyond Hispanic Heritage Month: Resources from IES
The team at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has a blog series with resources you can use to support Hispanic students and educators:
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Importance of Measuring Spanish Literacy Skills – In this guest blog, Drs. Ashley Adams Sanabria, Amy Pratt, and Elizabeth Peña discuss the importance of measuring literacy skills in Spanish and their new IES-funded measurement project that aims to develop assessments that measure Spanish language and literacy skills.
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Research-to-Practice: Evidence-Based Tier 2 Intervention Practices for English Learners (Brief 2)
Evidence-Based Tier 2 Intervention Practices for English Learners is the second brief in the series Meeting the Needs of English Learners With and Without Disabilities. Brief 2 features the work of Projects ELITE, ELLIPSES, and LEE — model demonstration projects funded by ED’s Office of Special Education Programs — whose interventions support the language and literacy needs of ELs in Grades 3–5, specifically through supplemental intervention (Tier 2) that is culturally and linguistically responsive. Highlights include:
- Design and delivery of Tier 2 intervention for ELs with and without disabilities
- Data analysis and instructional decision-making
- Criteria for identifying students who need Tier 2 intervention
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Join Immigrant Connections for a facilitated panel discussion that will include resettled Afghan refugee students and parents. |
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Webinar participants will learn evidence-based strategies, review aligned resources, and discuss ways to support American Indian and Alaskan Native migratory students and families. |
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November 10–13
Hybrid Conference
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La Cosecha 2021 will be a hybrid event, comprising both a virtual and an in-person conference. La Cosecha Conference offers you the unique opportunity to share best practices, resources, and current theory; build networks; and fuel community efforts to build a better future for our children as we “harvest” the best of our multilingual and multicultural communities. |
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November 13–14
Conference
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The Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color (AIELOC) and Women of Color in ELT Conference aims to provide high-quality professional development for international educators and leaders focused on representation, social justice, and equity studies. |
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Join the National Center for Families Learning for this webinar on supporting multi-language parent facilitation. |
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The 8th National Native American Language Summit is being hosted by ED’s White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Native Americans, and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education. The goal of the summit is to identify ways to further support communities teaching their Native languages, improve accountability for educational progress, provide measurable goals to show our success, and encourage our youth to gain the skills to speak their language. The summit will discuss the challenges and successes of measuring oral and written American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Pacific Islander language learning and will share promising practices. |
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November 19–21
Virtual Conference
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Join language educators at ACTFL’s virtual conference, featuring keynote speakers Omekonga Dibinga, Marcia Tate, and Shiza Shahid. The conference includes educational sessions and hands-on learning environments that will provide resources, ready-to-use techniques, and current trends in language education. |
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In this interactive workshop, Diane (Dee) Tedick and Cory Mathieu introduce their new dual language and immersion (DLI) specific Teacher Assessment Rubrics. The preservice, inservice, and self-assessment rubrics describe the pedagogical skills and knowledge that are unique to DLI contexts and necessary for promoting high levels of student academic achievement and language development. The workshop will include an introduction to the content of the rubrics and an associated workbook, an explanation of the development process, and substantial time for Q&A and discussion with colleagues about how the rubrics might be integrated into teacher education and K–12 DLI programs. |
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Fairfax County Public Schools
Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia are launching a new initiative that will provide students with support to develop reading and writing skills and transform learning for K–12 students. The initiative is based on data trends that show that prior to the pandemic about 40% of students were below grade level. This percentage may have grown in response to virtual learning during the last school year. Data also show that underserved student groups such as ELs are particularly at risk of experiencing low literacy rates. The Equitable Access Initiative aims to close the achievement gap for ELs and economically disadvantaged, Black, and Hispanic students.
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The Gazette
Iowa’s Kirkwood Community College, an 18,000-student institution, received more than 2.5 million in federal support to help ELs, homeless students, first-generation college students, and students with disabilities receive a college degree. The funding consists of two parts. One grant will help high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds graduate high school and enroll in college. The other grant will support programs that aim to boost the number of adults who enroll in postsecondary education by offering student advising, tutoring, test preparation, financial aid, and other supports.
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Colorín Colorado
This article raises the issue of language access and how communicating with EL families in a language that they can understand is a matter of educational equity. The article offers guidance for teachers, administrators, and families on how to appropriately utilize the services of bilingual staff members, translators, and interpreters. The publication also presents vignettes from several school districts that established equitable language access practices.
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Education Week
In this blog post and BAM radio show episode, Larry Ferlazzo talks to four educators, Valentina Gonzalez, Ann Stiltner, Holly Spinelli, and Chelonnda Seroyer, about small teaching moves that educators can make in the classroom to increase EL student engagement. The host and his guests offer suggestions such as increased wait time, offering choice, using student names, and others. The blog has links to resources that help support EL classroom engagement.
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Early Edge California
Early Edge California and its partners have launched a new website for educators and administrators supporting multilingual learners in pre-K through third grade. The Multilingual Learning Toolkit is an online hub featuring research-based key principles, instructional strategies, and free, practical, and easy-to-use resources that are focused on supporting the learning experience of children in pre-K through third grade who have developed or are developing proficiency in both English and one or more languages.
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This series of professional development webinars focuses on improving instructional practice in 21st century heritage language schools. These interactive webinars address various topics such as the foundational elements of a successful school organization, instructional design alignment, online teaching methods, the application of web tools, and emerging learning technologies (e.g., 360/VR) in the classroom. The role of parents and peer learning strategies will be examined in depth. The workshops are purposefully designed for heritage language practitioners, administrators, and teachers. Participants may sign up for all four webinars or just those they are interested in:
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October 28: School Model & Practices
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December 2: Instructional Design Alignment
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January 20, 2022: Technology Infused Curriculum: Necessity or Opportunity
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March 3, 2022: Parental Role in the Process of Heritage Language Learning
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NABE is accepting applications for the following award competitions: 2022 Student Essay Contest, 2022 Teacher of the Year, 2022 Bilingual Teacher Scholarship, and the 2022 Outstanding Dissertation. Visit NABE online to download the guidelines for the competitions.
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Participants in this 2-day virtual institute from CAL will receive practical resources they can use right away to create a welcoming environment for newcomer students and facilitate their learning. This institute is designed for pre-K–12 teachers, administrators, and other practitioners who work in educational settings with newcomer students and their families, such as social workers, counselors, and after-school specialists.
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The BUENO Center for Multicultural Education
Denver, CO
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Internationals Network for Public Schools
Brooklyn, NY
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Southern Methodist University, Simmons School of Education and Human Development
Dallas, TX
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Coming Soon: National STEM Day
Get ready for National STEM Day on November 8 with these fact sheets, teaching briefs, and podcasts from OELA:
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National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA)
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Disclaimer: NCELA Nexus is intended to share information that can be of use to educators, parents, learners, leaders, and other stakeholders in their efforts to ensure that every student, including ELs, is provided with the highest quality education and expanded opportunities to succeed. The information and materials presented on NCELA Nexus do not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by NCELA, the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), or the U.S. Department of Education.
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