Note: This Q&A with SupportEd president Diane Staehr Fenner first appeared on educateiowa.gov June 18, 2019. That piece is titled Keynote: Ending the education gap for English learners can be done. Staehr Fenner was a keynote speaker at the 15th Annual Our Kids Summer Institute held during June 2019 in…
Imagine the following scenario. Ameena is an English learner (EL) in the 8th grade who entered a U.S. public school for the first time one and a half years ago. Her overall proficiency level is 3 on a scale in her state where 1=entering and 6=proficient. When her teachers use…
Engaging English Learners (ELs) in Academic Conversations Imagine this scene… your students are in small groups using images from a story that you recently read to discuss the story’s themes. As you kneel down to listen in on one group’s conversation, you overhear one of your quieter English learners say…
Have you ever wished for one common vehicle that brings together the necessary elements of English learner (EL) education: high-quality standards, effective instructional principles, assessment, research, and professional development? EL master plans provide a tool that is comprehensive, responsive to your local context, and accessible to a wide body of…
The holiday season is a great time to reflect on what your school is doing to support and value linguistically and culturally diverse students and their families. In their article entitled Culturally Responsive Instruction for Holiday and Religious Celebrations, Cynthia Lundgren and Giselle Lundy-Ponce provide general recommendations for culturally responsive instruction as…
We enjoyed connecting in person with many of you and collaborating to better serve our English learners during WIDA 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. Today, we’d like to share SupportEd’s Top Three Takeaways from the conference. Takeaway 1 – Newcomers Teachers are looking for ways to support their newcomers. One…
