Happy New Year! We’ve had a productive start to fostering English learners’ success this winter with new and ongoing long-term projects, face-to-face professional development (PD), four online PD courses, and our first SupportEd webinar of 2019.

New Projects

• Reading School District, Pennsylvania. We are working with Reading School District (RSD) to develop their first EL Action Plan (or Master Plan) for the district’s rapidly growing English Learner population. The first step of our work is conducting a needs assessment which includes a review of policies and procedures, student data, classroom observations, and interviews with stakeholders, to determine current strengths and needs of the program. Next, we will meet with groups of internal and external stakeholders to solicit additional input for plan development. SupportEd will include the feedback and input from the district on an ongoing basis as the final EL Action Plan is developed. Additionally, SupportEd will be collaboratively working with RSD to review and revise EL program models and the English language development instructional delivery plan, and to develop a professional development plan, a K-12 ESL standards-aligned curriculum, and an ESL Program Handbook.

Ongoing Projects

• NCELA. We are continuing our work to manage the U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition’s National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA) in partnership with the Manhattan Strategy Group and WestEd. SupportEd’s main role is to provide EL technical assistance to support the implementation of OELA’s grants and contribute to the development and dissemination of EL professional learning tools and resources.
• Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky. We are working with JCPS to develop a new EL Master Plan for the district’s growing English Learner population. We are conducting a needs assessment and meeting several times with various stakeholders to develop a plan that will define a clear pathway to ELs’ success in JCPS.
• Syracuse City School District, New York. We are continuing  our fifth year of our ongoing collaboration with the Syracuse City School District (SCSD) in New York to develop and enhance their programming for ELs, including dual language and English as a New Language. This year, we are lending expertise on special education for ELs.
• School District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In partnership with co-teaching expert Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld, we are participating in a three-year project designed to support SDP’s “Together is Better” initiative. The program is designed to pilot and research effective co-teaching models in grades K-3 in three city schools. We are conducting a multifaceted model of PD including classroom walk-throughs and coaching as well as face-to-face PD for participating ESL and K-3 teachers led by EL expert Kent Buckley Ess.

Blended and Face-to-Face Professional Development

• Mid-West RBERN. SupportEd is conducting a 4-part blended professional development (PD) series entitled Leading Secondary ELLs to Graduation: Equitable Instruction and Assessment Practices for ESOL and content area teachers. Framed around on our bestselling book Unlocking English Learners’ Potential, we are focusing specifically on scaffolding both instruction and assessment for ELs and our own 5 Pillars of Equitable Grading for ELs. The PD package consists of face to face sessions, online PLCs, classroom and onsite support with our colleagues at the RBERN as well as practical application in the classroom. Participants share their products designed for ELs (e.g., universal scaffolds and scaffolded lesson plans) through online PLCs designated for each of the content areas: ELA, math, science, and social studies.
• OCM BOCES. Beginning in February, we will be facilitating a six-week online course on EL Assessment. This course will focus on the effective and equitable assessment of ELs, and it will cover such topics as formative assessment, equitable grading, and  supporting ELs with computer-based testing. Each of the three components will include a recorded presentation highlighting research on the topic as well as practical tools and strategies. Each component will also include classroom video clips, an application, and a facilitated online discussion.
• Edmonton Public Schools, Canada. We are working with Edmonton to provide support for a face to face book study on our bestselling book Unlocking English Learners’ Potential. This book study combines face-to-face meetings hosted in Edmonton, activities for teachers to experience strategies from the book, and an online platform of materials and resources including video clips of authentic classrooms. The book study also includes live virtual Q&A sessions with authors Diane Staehr Fenner and Sydney Snyder.
• Professional Development for Multiple School Districts. We are providing ongoing professional development on many EL-related topics, including culturally responsive instruction, instructional strategies for supporting ELs in content classrooms, instruction of SLIFE, and teacher advocacy and leadership in support of ELs. This winter we will be collaborating with educators in several districts and organizations in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. 

Online EL Professional Development Courses 

This winter, we are running four online professional development courses. All courses provide flexible, self-paced learning, a professional learning community facilitated by bestselling EL book authors, and a certificate for 10 hours of professional development upon completion. We invite you to click below and learn more about our current winter session (January 22 – March 8, 2019) and how you can join us this summer for more collaboration around pressing EL education topics and solutions.

• Strategies for Building ELs’ Academic Language
• Strategies for Making Content Accessible to ELs
• Effectively Advocating for ELs
• Effectively Reaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE)

Webinars 

• Join SupportEd’s Diane Staehr Fenner and NBCT Heather Anderson Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 3 p.m. as they co-host education.com’s upcoming webinar, 5 Practical Steps to Scaffold Lessons for English Learners. You can click here to register now.
• This February, we’re hosting our first interactive webinar of 2019, Supporting ELs’ Oral Language Development Through Academic Conversations. We’ll dive into topics such as why oral language activities are beneficial to ELs, practices for supporting ELs’ engagement and participation in academic conversations, and different types of oral language activities that you can implement in your classroom. Join the SupportEd team and guest co-host EL expert Emily Francis on February 21, 2019 for our first webinar of 2019. Click here to register now and reserve your seat!