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March 9, 2021
U.S. Department of Education (ED) Guidance to States on Student Assessments During the Pandemic
ED released guidance to states emphasizing the importance of flexibility in administering assessments this year and supporting the use of assessment data as a source of information for parents and educators to target resources and support, rather than for accountability purposes.
Watch Now: Successful Native Education Projects
In case you missed it, the recording from the Office of English Language Acquisition’s (OELA) webinar sharing stories from three successful Native American and Alaska Native Children in School (NAM) grant recipients is now available. Watch Now
Ensuring Continuity of Learning and Information

Check out our continually updated resources. These resources are intended for school personnel and institutions of higher education to improve distance learning and their support of English learners (ELs) and their families during school closures.
NCELA Resource Library
Visit our database of 20,000+ resources.
From Secretary Miguel Cardona:
A Letter to Families, Parents, and Students
Secretary Miguel Cardona recognizes the extraordinary challenges families, parents, and students have endured in the last year, and he feels confident that brighter days are ahead. In an open letter, Secretary Cardona details his plans for what we can accomplish together.
 
 


Announcements
National Professional Development (NPD) Program: Grant Opportunities
The NPD Program provides grants for eligible entities to implement professional development activities intended to improve instruction for ELs and assists education personnel working with ELs to meet high professional standards. Check out these upcoming events and key dates related to the FY2021 NPD Program grant competition.

Interested in applying? Institutions of higher education or public or private entities with relevant experience and capacity, in consortia with state educational agencies (SEAs) or local educational agencies (LEAs), may apply. 
Submit your intent to apply by March 15, and applications are due on April 23. For more information, view the Notice Inviting Applications and visit OELA online.
 
If you have any questions, please email NPD2021@ed.gov.
Register Now: NPD Pre-Grant Webinar 
OELA is hosting a pre-application webinar on March 24 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. for the NPD Program grant competition. This webinar will assist applicants with the process of preparing NPD application packages.
 
NPD Call for Peer Reviewers
OELA is seeking individuals to serve as peer reviewers for the NPD Program grant competition. The department is interested in peer reviewers with professional expertise in EL programs or services, including current and former pre-K─12 teachers and principals, LEA and SEA leaders, college and university educators, educational evaluators, and others with EL education and language acquisition expertise.
 
Upcoming Events
ERIC has recently updated its thesaurus and identifiers to help users find timely research. This webinar will highlight what is new, how ERIC balanced support to current research efforts with the ongoing work of updating the thesaurus, and how the identifiers can help researchers in their work.
Join CSEL on March 11 for a policy discussion on recent recommendations for state and district level educators related to instructing and assessing EL students during the pandemic. Speakers include Supreet Anand, OELA; Kenji Hakuta, Stanford; Helyn Kim, Institute of Education Sciences; and Diane August, CSEL. 
The SCOLT 2021 conference is going virtual with synchronous and asynchronous components, pre- and postconference workshops, and fun activities.  
Join Lydia Breiseth of Colorín Colorado, Kristina Robertson, Alonso Jaque-Pino, and Share My Lesson for a session on the possible steps for reopening schools.
March 23–27
Virtual Conference
Join the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) for its annual virtual conference. This year’s theme is “Standing Together for Unity, Multiliteracy, and Equity.”  
Through an engaging online platform, join a global community of English language professionals to build your professional English language teaching network; learn from and interact with thought-provoking keynote speakers; gather research, strategies, and best practices from experts in the field; and visit the Virtual Expo for information on the newest English language teaching products and services.​
March 30 and April 20
Online Conversations
The Center for Applied Linguistics is hosting live, open discussions with policy makers on the status of digital equity in U.S. education. Each episode of the 30-minute webinar series examines education for multilingual learners and culturally diverse populations through the lens of digital equity. Topics range from student assessment to teacher education, students with disabilities, early childhood education, and more.
April 27-29
Hybrid Conference
The National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) conference will be structured as a two-day hybrid conference with a preconference on April 27 and the conference on April 28–29. The theme is “Honoring the Past, Treasuring the Present, and Shaping the Future.”
In the News
EdSource
Parents of ELs in a California high school district are taking the initiative in organizing a three-month training program that supports other EL parents in helping their children graduate high school and attend college. The program, which includes eight schools, holds weekly meetings and school presentations designed to make parents more comfortable with technology, monitoring their children’s academic progress, and navigating the college application process. Some of the program’s goals for the future are to develop cohorts of parent mentors who can educate other families and to expand this program into other school districts. 
EdWeek
Carissa Purnell is the director of the Family Resource Center in Salinas, California, where more than three-quarters of public school students are ELs. The article recounts Purnell’s efforts to support EL and immigrant families outside of school with nutrition, housing, health care, and legal help. At the start of the pandemic, she also began advocating and providing help to those students who needed reliable internet and devices to continue their education.
Rosetta Stone Education
This white paper discusses ways that educators can support emergent bilinguals and their families during remote learning. The authors highlight the important role that family engagement plays in the academic success of emergent bilingual students. The suggestions are organized into ways that teachers can support learners in the classroom, how educators can support families, and how administrators can support emergent bilinguals’ families. 
NJTESOL NJBE Annual Voices Journal
This article cautions educators about using translation programs when supporting ELs in their classrooms. Translation programs such as Google Translate may often provide inaccurate and confusing output. Instead, the authors suggest that educators purposefully incorporate cognate instruction as a language and content learning tool. The authors also suggest that instruction that utilizes cognates needs to be differentiated for those students with strong native language and academic backgrounds and those ELs who have interrupted formal education and/or limited literacy.
Colorín Colorado
Dr. Ayanna Cooper is an educational consultant and advocate for culturally and linguistically diverse learners. She is a coeditor of Black Immigrants in the United States: Essays on the Politics of Race, Language, and Voice, among other publication credits. In this interview with Colorín Colorado, she shares what she has learned in her research about Black immigrants and the importance of ensuring that they are represented in discussions about immigration and ELs.
Professional Learning
Each year, NCFL enlists the country’s family engagement professionals to present best practices, strategies, and resources to help families succeed in accomplishing their educational and economic goals. NCFL is seeking proposals reflecting highly interactive and engaging presentations that include strategies or materials attendees can use right away in their classrooms or programs.
This program focuses on closing the gap for heritage school teachers and/or native speakers by creating a Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) to work toward state certification. This teacher training program will support up to 50 prospective teachers in eight targeted STARTALK languages to address the critical need for K–12 language programs in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 
This program is designed to help early-career language educators succeed in their current assignments and learn the skills to be successful in the long term. Mentors and mentees will be matched by language, level, interest, and location as best as possible. Three mentor programs are available: the traditional program for in-person educators, the distance language-educator program for those who teach online, and a hybrid program for those currently teaching in person and remotely.
This four-week course addresses specific issues in assessment, intervention, and identification strategies that are most effective in separating difference from disability. Participants will learn what tools and strategies are available and appropriate to use. 
Job Opportunities
Southside Academy Charter School
Syracuse, NY
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Up Next: National Bilingual/Multilingual Learner Advocacy Month


April is National Bilingual/Multilingual Learner Advocacy Month! Bilingual/multilingual learners are one of the fastest growing student populations in U.S. schools. These students bring multiple assets to schools and add to the rich diversity among students.
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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.