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Championing the Success of English Learners

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[New Publication] Effective Literacy Education for English Learner/Emergent Bilingual Students in California by the California Committee for Effective Literacy

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California has set forth a vision of multilingualism as a goal for our students, and has put into place comprehensive research-based frameworks and policies for the education of our culturally and linguistically diverse state. Today, as new literacy initiatives are taking shape, it is essential that they be aligned with and build upon the frame of California’s strong English learner policies that reflect the research on effective practices for English learner/Emergent Bilingual* students and that honor the vision California has set for our students.

In this brief by the California Committee for Effective Literacy titled “Effective Literacy Education for English Learner/Emergent Bilingual Students in California” details four decades of research with a distinct focus on second language literacy development and instruction listing components of effective literacy education for English learners derived from this research base, and specifices their alignment along the four state policy and guidance documents

The characteristics and components of effective literacy instruction for English Learners referred to in this brief are discussed in more depth in a companion white paper published by the National Committee on Effective Literacy: Escamilla, K., Olsen, L., & Slavik, J. (2022) “Toward Comprehensive Effective Literacy Policy and Instruction for English Learner/Emergent Students“. www.MultiLingualLiteracy.org

Alignment of Community Schools with the English Learner Roadmap Policy

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Community Schools presents an opportunity to rethink partnerships and the role that schools have in meeting the needs of students and families. Strongly aligned to this vision of schools is the English Learner Roadmap (EL Roadmap) policy goals to improve services for English learners (ELs) and ensure an assets-based focus of students and families. Therefore, it is critical for the establishment of an effective Community School for it to be implemented alongside the EL Roadmap, not as an additional program, but as a central component.

Californians Together has provided a document adapted from Section 4: Engaging the Whole Village (pages 44-57) of the California English Learner Roadmap Implementation Guide and Toolkit for Administrators Volume 5: Aligning and Articulating Practices Across the System. It offers guidance for how district and school leaders might plan for and implement the Community Schools model with the EL Roadmap as a central component.

It is our hope that this document can support the development and continued implementation of Community Schools, through alignment with the EL Roadmap. The Community Schools model holds great promise to deliver much needed services to EL students, immigrant and refugee students, and their families. Furthermore, we do not see the EL Roadmap and the Community Schools model as two separate policies, but as two complementary strategies that cannot be fully realized without the other.

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School Closure and English Learners

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SCHOOL CLOSURE AND ENGLISH LEARNERS:

A Review of COVID-19 Operations Written Reports

2020.09.01 School Closure and Distance Learning - Californians Together

COVID-19 hit California like a bolt from the blue. No one could have predicted the size and scope of the threat it posed until it was too late, and public institutions—especially schools—were largely left scrambling to sketch hasty plans to continue their operations. But as California approaches half a year of lockdowns, school closures, and economic restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is time to cease treating it as a crisis to be coped with and begin treating it as a situation to be managed.

Better mid- and long-term planning begins with an assessment of the chaotic spring. How well did schools respond in the moment? What worked well, what was left out then—and how can schools do better in the upcoming school year?

To help answer these questions, Californians Together launched a collaborative review process of 79 California school districts’ COVID-19 Operations Written Reports. This brief offers a window into local districts’ decision-making and can serve as a guide for future improvement.

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Read @caltog's NEW policy brief: “School Closures and English Learners: A Review of COVID-19 Operations Written Reports”. What worked well, what was left out then—and how can schools do better in the upcoming school year? https://bit.ly/2DmwC4K

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NEW! Policy Brief from @CaliforniansTogether: School Closures and English Learners: A Review of COVID-19 Operations Written Reports. How well did schools respond in the moment? What worked well, what was left out then—and how can schools do better in the upcoming school year? To help answer these questions, @CaliforniansTogether launched a collaborative review process of 79 California school districts’ COVID-19 Operations Written Reports. These documents offer a window into local districts’ thinking and can serve as a guide for future improvement. https://bit.ly/2DmwC4K