Fact Sheet Update: High School Graduation Rates for ELs
The latest fact sheet update from OELA provides new data on high school graduation rates for ELs, including graduation rates for ELs compared to all students, national high school graduation rates, and states with the greatest increases and decreases in EL graduation rates. It’s important to note that the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted some states’ abilities to collect and report graduation data.
Highlights:
- The median state-level high school graduation rate for ELs was 69%.
- In states with the highest EL graduation rates, the gaps between ELs’ and all students’ graduation rates were smaller than in the states with the lowest EL graduation rates.
- The national high school graduation rate for ELs increased between school years (SYs) 2010–11 and 2019–20. The only exception was a one-percentage-point decrease in SY 2016–17.
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New Infographic: Educators of ELs |
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OELA’s newest infographic, Educators of English Learners, addresses topics of EL teacher availability, need, and preparation. Many educators support ELs. Almost 45% of all public school teachers reported teaching ELs in SY 2020–21. The numbers and the projected need for EL instructors fluctuate from year to year for a variety of reasons. The infographic provides data from OELA, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the National Center for Education Statistics on:
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diversity among ELs and educators
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teacher qualifications and training
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projected need for EL educators
- state-level data on EL students and teachers.
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Join Switchboard for a three-part webinar series on the impact of traumatic stress on children and youth who have experienced forced displacement and resettlement. Learn how to incorporate trauma-informed care principles into your work with children and families and address post-migration trauma such as abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. The webinar will feature Dr. Jordan Greenbaum, a retired child abuse physician with experience in training and assisting health professionals worldwide in responding to child abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. She also provides training and support to other child-serving professionals on trauma-informed approaches to working with individuals who have experienced trauma due to violence or forced migration.
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The School-Community Partnerships webinar will feature the Community Schools Approach as a strategy that transforms a school into a place where educators, local community members, families, and students work together to coordinate in- and out-of-school resources, supports, and opportunities so that young people thrive. Additionally, the webinar will spotlight examples of strong school-community partnerships with a panel of district and community organization leaders. Space is limited. |
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June 26–28
Virtual Conference
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Join SIOP® authors and fellow educators from across the country who are seeking to make a positive impact on student learning for the 2023 SIOP® Virtual Conference hosted by Savvas Learning, an authorized source for SIOP® events and professional learning. The conference offers new and seasoned educators an opportunity to reinvigorate and strengthen their teaching practices to successfully support multilingual learners (MLs)/ELs.
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The English Learners Success Forum (ELSF) will be providing a free virtual webinar for anyone interested in making science materials responsive to MLs. Discover the new Science Guidelines developed by ELSF, science educators, and experts in the field. Learn about the five essential design features for MLs’ success in science. Gain insights into the need for linguistic support in science materials and explore examples of lessons aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.
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The Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools seeks to connect, collaborate with, and document all the community-based heritage language schools teaching all the languages spoken and taught in the United States. Registration is open for this annual conference, which is held at American University in Washington, DC, and online. Check to see if your school, or those you know about, are documented in their school survey. If not, please complete the school survey, or ask the school leaders to do so.
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Registration is now open for the 2023 WIDA Annual Conference. The WIDA Annual Conference is the premier event for educators of pre-K–12 MLs, giving educators from around the globe the opportunity to share best practices and discover innovative classroom strategies. The in-person conference will take place October 17–20 in Milwaukee, WI. A virtual track is also available on October 18 that includes a sampling of sessions from the in-person conference. |
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Join peers from around the country at the 2023 Families Learning Conference to be held in Omaha, NE. This conference is for passionate people looking for innovative learning strategies and resources to support families in reaching their academic and economic goals. Attendees will gain practices and ideas to create equitable and relevant family learning experiences; exposure to a national network of family-facing professionals, researchers, policymakers, and funders; and inspiration and renewed energy for their work.
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Chalkbeat
The two-teacher arrangement is part of changes the Boulder school district is making in how students identified as ELs receive language services in elementary schools. Instead of pulling students from their classroom to receive English language development, the district is moving to a co-teaching model, where a teacher specialist joins a regular classroom to help lead a lesson for all students with the classroom teacher. At Alicia Sanchez Elementary in Lafayette, CO, nearly 36% of students are identified as ELs. Because of that, the school had already been trying co-teaching for some time. In the fall, eight more schools will join. Most Boulder elementary schools are scheduled to make the switch in the next few years.
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Myrecordjournal.com
During a ceremony at Platt High School, 59 city students received the Connecticut Seal of Biliteracy. Most of the graduates spoke Spanish, although there were a handful of other languages. The seal was established by the state in 2017 to recognize graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in English and another language. To highlight their achievements, each student received a certificate in proficiency with the assessments done by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The ceremony included brief video greetings from Superintendent Mark Benigni and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who also emphasized the advantage that the seal would bring to students.
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U.S. Department of Education
ED announced more than $8 million in grant funding across three key initiatives to Raise the Bar for Native students. The funding includes three competitive programs to increase access to Native American languages in America’s schools, support and promote the success of Native American teachers, and ensure Tribal educational agencies can coordinate grant resources alongside state and local partners. Earlier this month, the Department announced $2.4 million in available funding to support the State Tribal Education Partnership (STEP) program. STEP grants support projects that strengthen Tribal self-determination and promote coordination and collaboration among Tribal, state, and local educational agencies to meet the unique needs of Native students.
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Institute of Education Sciences
This practice guide, developed by the What Works Clearinghouse™ in conjunction with an expert panel, distills contemporary research on reading interventions into easily comprehensible and practical recommendations for educators. The recommendations outline evidence-based practices that can help teachers meet the needs of their students with reading difficulties. These recommendations will also help educators address the requirements of two federal laws, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), that favor the use of evidence-based instructional practices relevant to students’ needs.
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EdSource
Frank Sparkes Elementary School in Winton, CA, serves mostly low-income Latino students, and more than half are ELs. Fifty-four percent of ELs at this school are reading and writing at grade level by third grade according to their scores on Smarter Balanced, the state’s standardized test. That’s more than four times the average in California. Frank Sparkes offers prizes to the students who read the most books in a year, and they analyze student progress every 3 months. In class, students are constantly using language, both by reading and writing and by discussing ideas out loud. Research shows that in order to learn how to read and understand what they are reading, ELs particularly need oral language development in English, as well as more opportunities to acquire new vocabulary.
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This conference will feature a community of Indigenous educators and researchers to share proven strategies and practical resources through an online platform that participants can immediately use to welcome students to their classrooms and to promote student success. This conference is for preschool, K–12, Tribal, college, university educators, and concerned community members to share ideas for improving the lives and education of American Indian children, especially regarding the revitalization of their Indigenous languages and cultures. The theme of the conference is Returning to our Languages and Ways of Knowing. Topics include: culturally responsive school practices to promote the success of Indigenous students; language revitalization; parental-community involvement; STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics); and oral tradition.
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Would you like to learn how to boost your students’ vocabulary development, academic language, reading comprehension, and writing skills—across all content areas? Have you always wanted to learn the research-based ExC-ELL Model but haven’t been able to find an institute near you? Are you looking for ways to continue to hone your craft as an educator and/or earn professional learning credits? The 2023 ExC-ELL Summer Institute is all virtual and delivered in three modules. Each module will be offered at two different times to fit busy schedules. Attendees of each module can expect a fun and meaningful 2-hour virtual professional learning session, opportunities to interact with colleagues and practice the instructional strategies learned, and a digital toolkit.
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NAME is seeking proposals for their 31st Annual Conference taking place from November 15–19 in Montgomery, AL. Proposals will be evaluated on a scale of 1–5, with 5 being the highest score. Join NAME and their allies, leaders, educators, researchers, and advocates in their efforts to build a more just, inclusive, and equitable future.
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ATDLE is inviting new Two-Way Bilingual Immersion (TWBI) and Dual Language teachers, coaches, and administrators to attend the New TWBI/DLI Symposium at the Sobrato Center for Nonprofits in San Jose, CA. This symposium specifically caters to individuals who are starting their new roles on July 1, 2023, and were unable to attend the national TWBI conference held in June. The event will feature experienced TWBI program experts and grade-level trainers to share their expert advice on how to start off on your journey this fall.
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NABE 2024 will offer both on-site and pre-recorded on-demand (virtual) presentations. There are approximately 30 presentation strands; proposals that demonstrate how their topic addresses one or more of the following competitive priorities will earn five extra points in the proposal review: Dual Language Learners, Multilingual/Multiliteracy, ELs, and Family Engagement. Proposal notifications will be sent by September 15.
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TQ is seeking proposals from prospective guest editors for the 2025 special topic issue. Proposals are chosen by the TQ Editorial Advisory Board, and the guest editor(s) are responsible for overseeing the review process and selecting the content of the issue. The issue will appear in September 2025. Successful proposals have an overarching theme that is timely and interesting to the TQ readership.
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University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA
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This June, you can meet OELA at conferences around the country. Our Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director, Montserrat Garibay, will speak on the Department and OELA’s work to support ELs while highlighting efforts to support MLs and promote multilingualism at the following events:
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National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA)
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Disclaimer: NCELA Nexus is intended to share information that can be of use to educators, parents, learners, leaders, and other stakeholders in their efforts to ensure that every student, including ELs, is provided with the highest quality education and expanded opportunities to succeed. The information and materials presented on NCELA Nexus do not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by NCELA, the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), or the U.S. Department of Education.
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