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Championing the Success of English Learners

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Media Coverage

Analysis: Educators Say Distance Learning Failed Most English Learners Last Spring. Here’s 10 Ways to More Effectively Serve ELs as Schools Reopen for Virtual and Blended Learning

September 14, 2020 by Californians Together

By Martha Hernandez, Californians Together Executive Director

American schools’ responses to COVID-19’s sudden interruption to public education varied considerably across the nation as students went from daily classroom learning to stay-at-home orders nearly overnight. Now, a new survey reveals the limits of that patchwork response to the emergency — and indicates key lessons for schools’ reopening this fall.

BARTLETT, ILLINOIS - MAY 01: Seven-year-old Hamza Haqqani, a 2nd grade student at Al-Huda Academy, uses a computer to participate in an E-learning class with his teacher and classmates while at his home on May 01, 2020 in Bartlett, Illinois. Al-Huda Academy, an Islam based private school that teaches pre-school through the 6th grade students, has had to adopt an E-learning program to finish the school year after all schools in the state were forced to cancel classes in an attempt to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.  (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Over the past several months, Californians Together, an English-learner advocacy organization, asked more than 650 educators to provide details about their schools’ distance learning plans, focusing particularly on how they served English learners. The results were sobering. Martha Hernandez discusses a 10-point road map for how Local, state leaders, and schools can address inequities as they prepare to relaunch public education in the fall.

Read the Full Piece Here

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Latest, Media Coverage Tagged With: COVID, COVID-19, Distance Learning, English Learners

CSBA Blog: California breeds new generation of leaders to support English Learners

September 25, 2019 by Claudia Vizcarra

There were close to 1.2 million English learners in California public schools during the 2018–19 school year, constituting more than 19 percent of total student enrollment. While the social and political landscapes are ever shifting around these children, advocates continue to push to ensure these students receive the best possible education.

The English Learner Leadership and Legacy Initiative was developed by Californians Together and the California Association for Bilingual Education to develop a new generation of well-informed and courageous leaders to build and sustain the movement for educational equity and excellence for English learners.

The genesis of the initiative was the desire of those who had long fought for the rights of English learners and pushed for opportunities for those children to pass along their knowledge — a culmination of years of both successful experiences and lessons learned from missteps — so that a new generation could continue to advocate for ELs.

“It comes from a place of passion for the cause, to ensure that English learners have access to the resources and the educational opportunities that they need to succeed,” said Ruth Barajas, project director of the ELLLI. “Those who started this — many of whom have over 40 years experience advocating for English learners — have so much knowledge, wisdom and life lessons to share that can help the next generation of leaders continue to improve education for English learners.”

An activist leader advocates for English learners when such opportunities present themselves, Barajas explained. Chances to be an advocate can be found in many situations — in one-on-one meetings with school personnel, when discussing legislation with policymakers or speaking in front of a school board.

“We recognize that school board members are the ultimate stakeholders because they represent the community,” Barajas said. “Our advocates want to work with their local leaders and school boards, so we encourage collaboration and building relationships with leaders and stakeholders at all levels.”

The benefits of bilingualism

Numerous studies have shown that bilingual students often experience cognitive, social and economic advantages over their peers. They tend to have better focus, memory and problem-solving skills; a better sense of self; better relationships with their parents; and are more likely to graduate high school and go to college. Research has also found that attendance rates among bilingual students are higher, children demonstrate fewer behavioral problems and parents are more involved.

In light of such findings, California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 58 in 2016, ending a nearly 20-year mandate that students who come to school speaking other languages receive instruction in English-only — a method research has since shown is ineffective in catching students up and helping reach language proficiency.

ELLLI’s roadmap for the future

Through the lessons they have learned through the English Learner Leadership and Legacy Initiative, Barajas said fellows will continue to push for policy changes that promote best practices in the education of English learners from pre-K through their years in college.

ELLLI fellows and partners are encouraged to take their training and engage in projects that can impact policy at state and local levels, including in areas such as:

  • Guaranteeing equitable funding for English learner education via the development of Local Control and Accountability Plans
  • Promoting early childhood education for English learners;
  • Expanding family engagement efforts;
  • Improving the pipeline to prepare and support excellent bilingual teachers and administrators;
  • Ensuring that schools are safe for everyone, including immigrant children and their families; and
  • Growing opportunities for access to bilingual learning.

Moving forward, Barajas said the organization will among other things continue to support its fellows — which include early- and mid-career classroom teachers, site and district administrators, school board members, county English learner directors, graduate students and California State University faculty — as they continue in their individual and collective advocacy work.

Filed Under: Home-Latest, Media Coverage

Mention: Article regarding the State Seal of STEM

September 12, 2019 by Claudia Vizcarra

This Ed Source article “California students could soon get a Seal of STEM on their diplomas” mentions the State of Biliteracy and references our recent report.

“California already offers two seals: the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma and the State Seal of Biliteracy. …The State Seal of Biliteracy, created in 2011, recognizes students who have attained high proficiency in speaking, reading and writing in one or more languages in addition to English. That seal is not mandatory, but 321 out of 420 eligible school districts in California now offer the Seal of Biliteracy, according to a report from Californians Together, a statewide advocacy organization for English Learners.

Filed Under: Media Coverage Tagged With: Biliteracy, Seal of Biliteracy

Ed Week: Who’s Earning the Seal of Biliteracy? In One State, It’s Mostly English-Learners

July 10, 2019 by Claudia Vizcarra

By Corey Mitchell on July 9, 2019 

California's statewide push to honor students who master a second language is growing—and English-language learners are benefiting the most.

In the class of 2018, 63 percent of graduates who earned the "seal of biliteracy" spoke a language other than English when they began school, a new report from Californians Together, an English-learner research and advocacy group, found. Those youths, identified in the report as heritage-language students, include current English-learners, former English-learners reclassified as English proficient, and students identified as bilingual when they began school.

Read more

 

Filed Under: Home-Latest, Media Coverage Tagged With: bilingual, Biliteracy, English Learners, multilingual, Seal of Biliteracy

Dual-language immersion push reveals California teacher shortage

June 10, 2019 by Claudia Vizcarra

By: Matt Zalaznick  – May 3, 2019 – District Administrator

New energy fueling dual-language immersion in California schools has exposed a bilingual teacher shortage of qualified educators.

The state has set a high bar for itself. The Department of Education’s Global California 2030 initiative calls for schools to have half of all K-12 students on track for proficiency in two languages by the end of the next decade.

Read more

Filed Under: Media Coverage Tagged With: Teacher Shortage

The Washington Post: Half of the world is bilingual. What’s our problem?

April 29, 2019 by Claudia Vizcarra

It is called the Seal of Biliteracy, created in 2008 by the advocacy group Californians Together. Thirty-five states and the District are putting it on diplomas, but it is so under the radar that many students never hear of it until they receive it.  Read article.

Filed Under: Home-Latest, Media Coverage Tagged With: Multiple Pathways

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