What a YEAR!

What a Year!  

2018-2019 was a successful year of innovation in Dual Language and ESL Education!!

We can celebrate the key leaders in our programs have helped us to grow in curriculum, instruction and multicultural and global competency.  Here is a quick update for now and preview of what is to come!

11th Grade DUAL LANGUAGE: Check! We have just completed year 1 of 11th grade DL at South High School.  Next year, North will be adding 11th grade, and there is only more to come!  Thanks a million to Sra. Meyers and Sra. Hernandez for your innovation, teaming and investment in our youth!

K-8 Dual Language Assessment: Our Dual Language Assessment team has selected a literacy assessment to pilot 2019-2020.  This means we will discontinue STAR, but will maintain PALs and Running Records K-5 English/Spanish.  We will pilot the new ENIL assessment as a reliable, valid and standards based tool helping us to plan and deliver instruction.  Plans are underway to pilot the resource at Heyer Elementary School.  I have obtained a grant that will allow us to expand beyond Heyer and plans are underway to bring those leaders and teachers to the table.  AAPPL assessment will also ONLY continue in 8th grade and no longer in 7th.

Content Based Paired Biliteracy: A team of teachers has come together this year to ensure that the gaps in access to standards in English or Spanish were remediated for our Dual Language Students. Students will now be able to access each and every standard in both English and Spanish in Content Based Paired Biliteracy. These blocks will use Science and Social studies as the rafts, but Language and Literacy as the sails! New to you will be the refinement of phase 2 of the Biliteracy Unit Framework used to teach Content Based Paired Biliteracy. Phase 2 will include a structure for strategic literacy instruction in writing and reading, standards based summative assessments and rubrics that are common to Writing Workshop Assessment tools. This will allow us to evaluate the impact of our teaching on students writing products in both Spanish and English each month!

An Adult Learning Framework has also been created to support reflection, initiation thru institutionalization and goal setting around practice. Special thanks to our ESL Teacher Leaders and those who came to the table each month to make these tools accessible to us all. Roll out will be at SI, but the curriculum is loaded on BB9 in the Comprehensive Literacy Course. Elementary Minutes will be shared in SI, but Content Based Paired Biliteracy is a daily expectation for 55 minutes.

DL Word Study and Patterns of Power:  A team of teachers and coaches have come together to re-work the biliteracy continuum.  Next year, you will have access to very clear curriculum templates, content and continuums to implement Patterns of Power in it's own block of time (applause), as well as Word Study, including phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling, and high frequency words.  The creation of the continuum aligns to standards for our grade levels and provides you with tools and planners to deliver instruction.  We are on target to ensure the first three unit are complete by August, units 4-5 by November, and units 6-7 by February  2020.  Elementary Minutes will be shared during SI but include K-1: Daily 15 POP, Daily 30 Word Study, 2-5: Every other week POP or Word Study 15 minutes daily.

K-1 English Language Development:  Next year, and until we have a social studies curriculum in place, we will be sunsetting our ELD curriculum for grades K-1.  In it's place, teachers are expected to use the District K-1 Science curriculum in ENGLISH.  This means there will be no science or social studies block.  K-1 teachers will offer daily Patterns of Power and Daily Word Study.  Updated Elementary Minutes will be shared during summer Institute, but ELD is an expectation 30 minutes a day.  The Social Emotional Curriculum Second Step is not part of English Language Development and must be facilitated in Spanish.

Dual Language Teacher Leader: The DL teacher leader is expected to be a role into 2019-2020. This valuable college represents the classroom, our learners and teachers in facilitating monthly department meetings. We have met as a group and feel strongly the this team lead by teachers offers the best opportunity for networking, problems solving, growing practice and strengthening our solidarity. In addition to this duty, next year plans will be made between the Multilingual Department and sites to engage our Title III parents, parents of English Learners, in creating greater home/school connections around curriculum, programs, communication and more. Details to come, but could offer an additional opportunity to lead (4E, 4D).

SUMMER INSTITUTE: Dual Language Teachers will be required to participate in the following Summer Institute Sessions to ensure that we have communicated shifts in curriculum and opportunities to deepen practice:

• Dual Language Teachers are required to take:
• Grades 2-5, Session 5 and 6,
• Grades 2-8 Biliteracy Unit Frameworks: Phase 2 Reading and Writing, Session 9
• Grades K-8  Trajectories for Biliteracy, Session 1
• Heyer Dual ENIL Pilot Training, Session 10-12
• Grades K-1, Sessions 7-8
• English as a Second Language teachers are required to take sessions 2 and 3 ESL Master Class, and session 4 Master Class

Enrollment: Many of you have inquired into our enrollment numbers this year in 5K. Yes, our community of Spanish speaking youngsters looks to be lower than you may have experienced in your career in 5K. We plan to enroll as many students as we can to create 2 full sections at each building and this means you will be welcoming more English speaking students learning Spanish. Sheltered instruction, oracy rehearsal and all of our pairing and planning practices have prepared us for these occasional blips in birth years. Let's hope to welcome more Spanish speakers over the summer. Your advocacy in the community is valued.