STEM, CTE Infographics Now Available in Spanish
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English Learners in STEM provides data about ELs’ access and representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) found that U.S. school systems can do more to grant ELs access to quality STEM education.
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Career and Technical Education: Preparing K–12 Multilingual Learners for Postsecondary Education and Careers details the benefits of CTE for multilingual learners and provides seven ways that schools and teachers can ensure equitable access and opportunity to CTE programs.
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New on the NCELA Blog: Spotlight on Multilingualism
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Two new NCELA blogs spotlight the multilingual K–12 educators showcased at OELA’s listening session during Teacher Appreciation Week. In addition to talking about their backgrounds, the educators share what multilingualism means to them, how they promote it in their classrooms, how we can better retain effective multilingual teachers, and the resources they use to serve their multilingual students.
Part 1 highlights insights from Carol Pagan from Providence Public School District in Rhode Island and Sonia Águila from Canalino Elementary School in California. Part 2 features Rodrigo Rodriguez from Austin Independent School District in Texas and Rebecka Peterson from Union Public Schools in Oklahoma.
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Summer Interns Join the OELA Team |
OELA is excited to welcome two summer interns:
Ashley Álvarez is a senior at Harvard University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Educational Studies. Born and raised in south central Los Angeles, she is passionate about educational justice and transformation. She has a growing professional background in the education field, with a number of internships in various research, advocacy, and policy organizations. After graduating, Ashley hopes to pursue a career within the early childhood and K–12 education fields.
Adith Thyagarajan is a rising junior at George Washington University. Adith is from New Castle, Delaware, studying political science and criminal justice with a minor in marketing. Adith is passionate about education policy, especially within the fields of civil rights issues, gun violence, increasing resources that spur bilingualism, and equal access to opportunities. Adith is excited to work with OELA this summer and understand how the U.S. Department of Education operates and helps push initiatives.
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The Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools seeks to connect, collaborate with, and document all the community-based heritage language schools teaching all the languages spoken and taught in the United States. Registration is open for this annual conference, which is held at American University in Washington, DC, and online. Check to see if your school, or those you know about, are documented in their school survey. If not, please complete the school survey, or ask the school leaders to do so.
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Registration is now open for the 2023 WIDA Annual Conference. The WIDA Annual Conference is the premier event for educators of pre-K–12 MLs, giving educators from around the globe the opportunity to share best practices and discover innovative classroom strategies. The in-person conference will take place October 17–20 in Milwaukee, WI. A virtual track is also available on October 18 that includes a sampling of sessions from the in-person conference. |
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Join peers from around the country at the 2023 Families Learning Conference to be held in Omaha, NE. This conference is for passionate people looking for innovative learning strategies and resources to support families in reaching their academic and economic goals. Attendees will gain practices and ideas to create equitable and relevant family learning experiences; exposure to a national network of family-facing professionals, researchers, policymakers, and funders; and inspiration and renewed energy for their work.
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The World
The Miami Dade College Dual Language program is one of the few of its kind, the first associate degree program of its kind offered in the United States. Students can take classes in Spanish for everything from biology to philosophy. The program is a part of The Honors College and is exclusively offered at just one of the college’s campuses, Padron Campus. The Honors College wanted to create a program for high-achieving, bilingual high school students who were uncertain about college. The program was launched in 2006 and accepts 75 new students each year, with more than 75% born outside the US. The program has an impressive record. Nearly all students go on to transfer and graduate from four-year schools. Last year, three dual-language students — all of whom are recent immigrants — transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Edutopia
When English language learners are given consistent opportunities to practice their home languages in class, their English proficiency flourishes along with their sense of belonging and identity. This short video segment tells a story of a classroom from Abraham Lincoln Middle School in Selma, California, where the teacher values the Native languages of his students and utilizes their Native language as an asset and a learning opportunity.
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Chalkbeat
William Henry Burkhart Elementary School in Perry Township, Indiana has been committed to improving English language instruction for refugees from Myanmar since the first students from the country began arriving nearly two decades ago. The school’s hard work has led to recognition. In June, it was shortlisted for a World’s Best School prize awarded by T4 Education, which was founded to establish and support a network of teachers and schools. Burkhart is one of just 10 schools worldwide that is up for the group’s Community Collaboration award. There has been an increase in ELs in Indiana. In 2005, the number of ELs was over 56,000. By 2022, that figure was over 77,000, according to the Indiana Department of Education.
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The Civil Rights Project
This paper looks at the next 25 years of education and policymaking regarding students classified as ELs. Given the strong research evidence on the benefits of bilingual education and the need to address barriers to opportunity experienced by ELs, this paper strengthens the case for federal, state, and local education policy and action that looks toward the implementation of bilingual education as the standard service—rather than the exception—for EL-classified students.
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EducationWeek
Assessments in K–12 schools have traditionally been designed with a monolingual English-speaking student in mind. But the EL population continues to grow across the country. How effective are traditional assessments in measuring what multilingual learners know in a given subject if they are limited to testing in English while they are still learning that language? That topic was discussed in a recent webinar on multilingual learner engagement from the Center for Applied Linguistics. Experts offered advice on what it would take to rethink how ELs’ academic progress is measured and what else can be done if assessments cannot be changed overnight.
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Language Magazine
As well as learning academically, today’s students are learning their place in the world, who they are, and how to make and nurture friendships. School districts offer a variety of programs to support ELs, but there remain significant issues, particularly in assessment. Due to the limited development of crucial, validated Spanish-language assessments, the identification of EL students who would benefit from specialized intervention and educational services suffers from both under- and over-representation. Many EL students are inappropriately classified as having academic disabilities, in part related to limitations in assessments. Best practice suggests that in addition to translation, we should adapt assessments into other languages, ensuring cultural appropriateness, and validity.
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NAME is seeking proposals for their 31st Annual Conference taking place from November 15–19 in Montgomery, AL. Proposals will be evaluated on a scale of 1–5, with 5 being the highest score. Join NAME and their allies, leaders, educators, researchers, and advocates in their efforts to build a more just, inclusive, and equitable future.
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ATDLE is inviting new Two-Way Bilingual Immersion (TWBI) and Dual Language teachers, coaches, and administrators to attend the New TWBI/DLI Symposium at the Sobrato Center for Nonprofits in San Jose, CA. This symposium specifically caters to individuals who started their new roles on July 1, 2023, and were unable to attend the national TWBI conference held in June. The event will feature experienced TWBI program experts and grade-level trainers to share their expert advice on how to start off on your journey this fall.
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NABE 2024 will offer both on-site and pre-recorded on-demand (virtual) presentations. There are approximately 30 presentation strands; proposals that demonstrate how their topic addresses one or more of the following competitive priorities will earn five extra points in the proposal review: Dual Language Learners, Multilingual/Multiliteracy, ELs, and Family Engagement. Proposal notifications will be sent by September 15.
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This 15-hour, synchronous online institute, guided by CAL’s decades of experience in connecting research to practice and the CAL publication, Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education, provides information and tools to help school leaders gain a solid understanding of the benefits of dual language education and explores how they can develop a program that promotes student success in two languages, and increase their impact as leaders. Special emphasis is placed on strategies for ensuring language and cultural equity to create an environment where bilingualism, biliteracy, high academic achievement, and sociocultural competence thrive.
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TQ is seeking proposals from prospective guest editors for the 2025 special topic issue. Proposals are chosen by the TQ Editorial Advisory Board, and the guest editor(s) are responsible for overseeing the review process and selecting the content of the issue. The issue will appear in September 2025. Successful proposals have an overarching theme that is timely and interesting to the TQ readership.
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Genesee Intermediate School District
Flint, MI
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Vancouver Public Schools
Vancouver, WA
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Infographic: Educators of ELs
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OELA’s infographic, Educators of English Learners, addresses topics of EL teacher availability, need, and preparation. Almost 45% of all public school teachers reported teaching ELs in SY 2020–21. The numbers and the projected need for EL instructors fluctuate from year to year for a variety of reasons. The infographic provides data on:
- diversity among ELs and educators
- teacher qualifications and training
- projected need for EL educators
- state-level data on EL students and teachers
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Send your alerts, upcoming events, resources, and job postings to AskNCELA
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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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