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Californians Together

Championing the Success of English Learners

Program Update

2018 English Learner Advocacy Institute: Now Accepting Applications

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ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS – ENGLISH LEARNER ADVOCACY INSTITUTE

Applications are now being  now accepted for the English Learner Leadership & Legacy Initiative (ELLLI) EL Advocacy Institute in San Jose, August 3-6, 2018.

Applications accepted: until April 27th, 2018. Awards will be announced in early May.

Are you a mid-career activist and advocate for the best education for all English Learners (ELs)? Looking to learn new skills, learn about the legacy of EL advocacy in California and join a community of other EL advocates?

APPLY TODAY

Californians Together, in collaboration with CABE, invites applicants to an extraordinary, four-day professional development event for selected leaders and advocates for quality education for English Learners. This is a fully-funded event (materials, meals, lodging), with support available as needed for transportation. Applications will be competitive, as there is capacity for the award of only 50 scholarships.

The institute will be based on design and materials developed for the English Learner Leadership and Legacy Initiative (ELLLI). (SEE: http://www.ellli.org/). ELLLI aims to equip anew generation of EL education leaders with an historical perspective and practical skills to further advocacy and action work at the local, regional and state levels on behalf of ELs and their families. The Institute features some of the state’s top EL authorities including current
ELLLI Fellows and Mentors.

Institute Format:

You will experience a four-day institute (noon Friday through noon Monday).
Participants must commit to attending all four days.

The institute includes presentations, discussions, case studies, film and hands-on activities that will further develop your understanding of the history and current context of EL education in California. The Institute aims to provide skills in planning and implementing advocacy campaigns, and to connect advocates to a growing community of EL advocates.

WHERE: The EL Advocacy Institute will take place at the beautiful Dolce Hayes Mansion Conference Center in San Jose. Lodging is in spacious double rooms. Pool and exercise facilities are available.

WHEN: Attendance is required at all daytime and evening events from noon, Friday, August 3 through noon, Monday, August 6, 2018.

The most competitive applicants will have:

  • Five or more years experience with EL education, in Pre-K through H.S. settings, in IHEs, or in community or advocacy organizations.
  • Some prior engagement in leadership and advocacy for EL education (e.g., CABE chapter, school, district, or county level, or non-governmental organization).

WHAT PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE:

Those admitted into the institute will receive all materials, lodging (double occupancy) and meals during the institute, and will be reimbursed for flights or ground transportation up to $300 each. Attendance will be fully funded for the most qualified individuals selected from among all applicants. Those who complete the four days will become ELLLI Partners, and will join an expanding ELLLI community, along with veteran EL advocates and mentors in our efforts to impact state-wide policy and practice in fostering quality education for English Learners.

HOW TO APPLY:

Electronic Applications available: March 26, 2018 – April 27th, 2018 5:00 PM

APPLY TODAY

All applications must be submitted on-line. No paper applications can be accepted.

Application deadline: April 27th, 2018, 5:00 PM.The Sobrato Family Foundation has provided generous support for ELLLI. Additional support for has come from the Stuart Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation and scores of individual donors.

Californians Together is a statewide advocacy coalition of powerful organizations from all segments of the education community including: teachers, administrators, board members, parents and civil rights non-profit groups. Our member organizations come together, united around the goal of better educating the almost 1.4 million English Learners by improving California’s schools and promoting equitable educational policy.

Learn more about the English Learner Leadership & Legacy Initiative

Questions? Contact Norm Gold, ELLLI Project Director

Download the Press Release

Negative Impact of Current Immigration Enforcement Policies on Immigrant Students: New Research

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In the last few weeks, several reports were released, documenting the negative impact that the current immigration enforcement policies are having on immigrant children:

The UCLA Civil Rights Project has released a report, entitled U.S. Immigration Enforcement Policy and its Impact on Teaching and Learning in the Nation’s Schools. The researchers, led by Dr. Patricia Gandara, surveyed thousands of educators across the U.S. and found that the teachers and administrators have noticed the impact, including increased absenteeism, behavior or emotional problems, and academic decline. The Civil Rights Project and the Migration Policy Institute co-hosted a convening and webcast at the Wilson Center to release the report as well as a companion paper about the impact on educators, Stressed, Overworked, and Not Sure Whom to Trust: The Impacts of Recent Immigration Enforcement on our Public School Educators.

Less than a week later, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) released a pair of reports highlighting the impact of current immigration policy on young children and early childhood education providers. Our Children’s Fear: Immigration Policy’s Effects on Young Children surveyed educators in six states and also documents the negative impact that immigration policies are having on young immigrant children and their parents. The key findings include:

  • Young children fear their parents will be taken away
  • Young children’s daily routines are interrupted because fear is keeping families isolated in
    their homes—resulting in reduced access to early care and education programs
  • Parent and provider accounts suggest that young children are getting less access to nutrition and health care services because of families’ fears
  • Young children’s housing and economic stability are in turmoil, with likely significant consequences for their well-being
  • Parents and caregivers—the most important source of support for young children—are themselves under severe stress and lack resources to meet their needs

The report finishes with Federal, state, and local policy recommendations as well as recommendations for the philanthropic community.

The companion report from CLASP, Immigration Policy’s Harmful Impacts on Early Care and Education, finds that:

  • Early care and education programs have experienced drops in enrollment, attendance, and parent participation
  • Early care and education programs face increased difficulty connecting immigrant families to health, nutrition, and social services
  • Many early care and education programs feel unprepared to meet families’ needs
  • Immigration policy changes directly affect the early care and education workforce
  • Early care and education programs’ responses to the current environment differ—with some taking on new roles and approaches

The four reports all highlight what educators across the country can tell you – immigration policies are deeply impacting the students, their families, and the educational staff they interact with on a daily basis.

 

Our recommendations on how to determine oral proficiency of students to qualify for Seal of Biliteracy (4th yr, world language course)

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Guidance to the Field

To assist districts and schools in determining oral proficiency equivalent to AP and IB scores designated in the criteria, we recommend, although a local decision, the adoption of the Intermediate Mid-level guidelines established by American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).  This is the level equivalent to a “3” on most AP language exams and is the recommendation from four national organizations in the Seal of Biliteracy Guidelines.

ACTFL has many resources such as their oral proficiency assessments to assist with this determination. Included on the website are Proficiency Guidelines that will describe what is expected at intermediate mid-level. In the guidelines, there is a descriptor for each of the languages in the areas of oral, written, reading and listening language with some recorded language samples.  We recommend the use of the ACTFL rubrics by world language teachers to assess classroom activities such as one-on-one interviews, oral presentations, collaborative conversations, and observation of classroom participation to determine oral proficiency of their students. Resources also include the “Can Do Statements” which can also be used to design lessons, in-class assessments and rubrics.

Also, districts may choose to use the official ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interviews  (OPIs) that are currently available in the following languages (but are subject to change): Afrikaans, Akan-Twi, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Baluchi, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Cantonese, Cebuano, Chavacano, Czech, Dari, Dutch, Egyptian, English, French, Georgian, German, Greek (Modern), Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong/Mong, Hungarian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Iraqi, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kazakh, Kashmiri, Korean, Kurdish, Lao, Levantine, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin, Marshallese, Nepali, Norwegian, Pashto, Persian Farsi, Polish, Portuguese Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian Croatian, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Tausug, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Turkmen, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Wolof, Wu and Yoruba.

The College Board World Languages Framework and the AP Language and Culture 2017 Scoring Guidelines for Interpersonal Speaking: Conversation and Presentational Speaking: Cultural Comparison also provide guidance to world language teachers to assess the level of oral proficiency in Spanish, Italian, German and French.

The California Department of Education Seal of Biliteracy website is another great resource. Included on the website are written communications, a requirements checklist, instructions on how to request Seals for your students and a listing of all school districts participating in the program in 2016-17 with the languages for which the students were recognized.  If you are looking for resources for a particular language, refer to this list and then contact the district for the procedures and tools they use for that particular language.

With the passage of the English Learner Roadmap setting high standards for English Learner biliteracy programs and the passage of Proposition 58, the EdGE Initiative, with 73.5 percent of the electorate voting to support multilingual programs, all school districts should consider establishing a Seal of Biliteracy Program. For support in beginning a district program, please go the Seal of Biliteracy website   for ideas about initiating and implementing a program in your district.

All students should have the opportunity to graduate with a Seal of Biliteracy on their diploma.

New Immigrant Student Resource Hub is Live: InformedImmigrant.org

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Informed Immigrant Educator Corner

Californians Together is pleased to announce the relaunch of the Informed Immigrant website. We have partnered with Informed Immigrant to create an “Educator’s Corner” to curate and share resources for educators including:

    • Classroom tools
    • Policies and protocol
    • Advice for schools to share immigration-related resources with families
    • College access and scholarships
    • Nationwide directory of legal aid

Californians Together will be partnering on-going to ensure that new resources are added and highlighted on the InformedImmigrant.com website