OELA Presenting at TESOL Annual Conference

Announcements

OELA Presenting at TESOL Annual Conference
TESOL International Association’s annual convention takes place from March 12–15 in Atlanta, GA, this year! TESOL is an international association of professionals working to advance the quality of English language teaching by providing opportunities for professional development, guiding research to improve standards, and building advocacy. Join the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) Deputy Director Supreet Anand on Thursday, March 14 from 10:30–11:15 a.m. in Grand Ballroom A at the Omni for Supporting the Academic Success of English Learners. Plus, learn new methods and enhance your professional practice at 900+ educational sessions, network with 6,000+ English language teaching professionals from around the world, and gain access to the latest tools, products, and services.
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U.S. Department of Education is Accepting Summer Intern Applications Until March 15
The U.S. Department of Education is seeking student applicants for our 2019 Summer Internship Program. If you are interested in learning more about education and policy issues while developing key workplace skills, this is the opportunity for you! Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and attend an accredited postsecondary education institution. The program runs from May/June through July/August 2019, and applications are due by March 15, 2019. If you are interested in an internship, please email StudentInterns@ed.gov for more information.
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Survey: Assistance From OELA
OELA is asking teachers, coaches, administrators, researchers, and others working with ELs to share what OELA services have been helpful and what other areas of support are needed. Please take a moment to complete this brief survey by March 15, 2019.
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March 16, 2019
PreK–12 Day
Atlanta, GA
Join TESOL and a host of English language teaching experts for a full day of hands-on, practice-oriented sessions that focus on concrete ways to increase student engagement. All PreK–12 teachers and administrators are welcome! From co-teaching to assessment, gain new strategies, tools, and resources to help your ELs succeed.

March 19, 2019
Diversifying and Widening the Teacher Pipeline with Grow Your Own Programs
Webinar
Grow Your Own (GYO) programs are one way to address issues of teacher recruitment. To help stakeholders better understand GYO programs and ways to implement GYO programs within their states, districts, or communities, the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Central will host a webinar on March 19 at 2:00–3:15 p.m. MT.

March 29–31, 2019
Teach to Lead 17th Teacher Leadership Summit
Philadelphia, PA
Teach to Lead summits provide teams of educators with time for collaboration, skills development, and professional consultation to nurture innovation and create a positive impact for students, their schools, communities, districts, and states. The summit will focus on ideas from the field that encourage leadership, promote collaboration among multiple stakeholders, identify an area in need of innovation, and are sustainable over time.

April 5, 2019
IDRA Annual Bilingual Parent Institute
San Antonio, TX
The Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) is hosting this annual institute that offers families, school district personnel, and community groups from across the country the opportunity to network, obtain resources and information, and receive training and bilingual materials on IDRA’s nationally recognized research-based model for parent leadership in education. This year’s institute, funded in part by the IDRA EAC-South and by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will highlight family engagement as it relates to the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This institute is interactive and participatory. All presentations are bilingual (English-Spanish).

April 10, 2019
Learning Opportunity: Culturally Appropriate Positive Guidance with Young Children
Webinar
Join the National Association for the Education of Young Children for a webinar on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, from 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET with Zeynep Isik-Ercan, author of the article “Culturally Appropriate Positive Guidance with Young Children,” which appeared in the publication Spotlight on Young Children: Social and Emotional Development.

In The News

Albuquerque Journal
House passes bill to boost bilingual education
In February, New Mexico legislators overwhelmingly passed House Bill 120, which will increase the number of educators able to teach ELs, especially Native American and Hispanic students. The bill would establish a loan program to support teacher candidates wishing to become bilingual educators and those wanting to teach English to ELs.

Press-Telegram
Schools are teaching kids in Korean, Arabic, and French as dual language immersion programs expand beyond Spanish
The notion that all children should be multilingual is gaining traction in Southern California and around the nation. Next year, the Anaheim Elementary School will start English-Korean dual language immersion programs alongside its English-Spanish programs. Last year, the California Department of Education launched a new initiative, Global California 2030, with the goal that by 2030 half of the state’s K–12 students will be proficient in two or more languages.

New America
DLLS and Head Start: Framing Bilingualism as an Asset
The percentage of dual language learners (DLLs) enrolled in Head Start has increased from 17% in 2000 to 24% in 2014. Research on DLLs has shown not only the benefits of their attending high-quality early education programs, but also of attending programs that use a dual language immersion model. Such programs benefit the cognitive and social development of DLLs and their English-speaking peers.

The Ripon Advance
Hurd’s bipartisan bill would bolster nation’s supply of English language teachers
U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) introduced a bill, The Reaching English Learners Act, H.R. 1153, which would provide funds to higher education institutions to prepare aspiring teachers to become bilingual educators. In the latest national data available, 32 states reported they were experiencing bilingual teacher shortages.

Al Día Dallas
UNT and Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD seek to foster reading among Latino Families
The University of North Texas (UNT) and Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD are working together on a literacy program for families with bilingual children in PreK through second grade. Once a week, parents can meet with bilingual English as a Second Language teachers and learn to establish a reading routine at home to help their children thrive. The program is part of the family and community engagement activities in the Title III National Professional Development Project SUCCESS located at UNT in Denton. More information about the program is available from this Fox (KDFM) video.
 

EdSurge
TIPS FOR TEACHERS: Leveling Up Language Learners’ 21st-Century Skills with Minecraft
An English as a Second Language teacher discusses how he uses the video game Minecraft with ELs to not only have them read and speak English, but to practice 21st-century skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, digital literacy, communication, initiative, and creativity.

Education Week
TIPS FOR TEACHERS: High-Quality Teaching Materials for ELLs is Goal of New Initiative
The Council of the Great City Schools and the Los Angeles School District are collaborating on an initiative to improve instructional materials for ELs. The council established a consortium to gain more purchasing power and tell publishers what materials need to be produced. Any school district will be able to purchase these higher-quality materials.

EdSurge
NEW RESOURCE: Seven Steps to Ensure English Learners Aren’t Left Out of STEM
The demand for professionals in STEM fields continues to grow and so does the percentage of ELs in the nation’s school-aged population (about 9.4%). According to a recent report, English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives, there are obstacles for ELs seeking to enter STEM careers. ELs do not lack interest or ability, but they often lack access to rigorous STEM content. The report recommends seven steps to rectify this situation.

Journal of Educational Research and Practice
NEW RESOURCE: Increasing Engagement of English Learners Through Universal Design for Learning
The authors of this open access research article propose that ELs’ engagement with academic content can be increased by teaching them self-regulation and individual coping skills, providing guided practice, supporting students to sustain effort, and allowing students to achieve the same goal through different pathways.

The Pie News
NEW RESOURCE: Don’t Leave the L1 out of English-taught programs, OUP experts warn
An Oxford University Press white paper by applied linguist Hamish Chalmers and other experts argues that the best approach to supporting ELs is bilingual education. He summarizes research indicating that proficiency in one’s first language is strongly related to successfully acquiring a second language.
 

Professional Learning

2019 Leading with Learning Summer Institutes
Are you ready to launch your efforts for improving teaching and learning for ELs and other culturally and linguistically diverse students? Every summer, Leading with Learning holds multiday intensive summer institutes for teachers and leaders to learn how to implement integrated science, literacy, and English language development. School and district teams of teachers and teacher leaders, instructional coaches and principals, district and county office leaders, and teacher education faculty should attend. For more information contact LeadingWithLearning@wested.org. Register by April 1, 2019, for the early bird discount.
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University of Maryland, Online TESOL Post-Baccalaureate Certificate (PBC)
The Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, within the University of Maryland's College of Education is excited to be launching a new, online Post-Baccalaureate Certificate (PBC) program in TESOL, which will begin this summer. The one-year Certificate program is comprised of four courses and has been developed for busy in-service educators interested in improving their instruction of ELs. Credits earned can convey toward an MEd in TESOL. Application open until May 15, 2019!  
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WestEd, Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) Summer Institutes, July 15¬–19 & July 22–¬26, San Francisco, CA
Every summer, QTEL holds professional development institutes for educators focused on the development of teacher expertise to engage ELs and all other students in deep, transferable learning. During the summer institutes, participants experience and understand powerful models of learning that they are able to turn into practices that scaffold the advancement of 21st-century skills and academic development for students.
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Job Opportunities

Elementary Teacher, High School Teacher, & High School Principal
The Bend-La Pine School District serves nearly 18,500 students in Central Oregon. They are expanding their Spanish/English two-way immersion program and are seeking experienced bilingual and bicultural educators to join their team. Positions available include elementary teacher, high school teacher, and high school principal. For questions, contact: kinsey.martin@bend.k12.or.us (Dual Language Director), or Human Resources at 541.355.1100.
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Assistant Professor in Bicultural-Bilingual Teacher Education
The University of Texas at San Antonio is seeking an Assistant Professor in Bicultural-Bilingual Teacher Education.
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AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Corps
This national service federal program is dedicated to building young leaders, serving disadvantaged communities, increasing job skills, and providing opportunities to earn money toward education. Through this program, young adults are assigned to nonprofits, government agencies, institutions, and community-based organizations for 10 months of service. In exchange, students receive money toward college, college loans, living allowances, and health benefits.
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Connect With NCELA

Share Your Feedback: Assistance from OELA Survey
OELA is asking teachers, coaches, administrators, researchers, and others working with ELs to share what OELA services have been helpful and what other areas of support are needed. Please take a moment to complete this brief survey by March 15, 2019.

Contribute to Nexus
Send your news, upcoming events, resources, and job postings to AskNCELA for the next edition of Nexus by Friday, March 15, 2019.