From the Executive Director

Dear Partners,

As we enter 2024, I am proud of our shared accomplishments and the work planned ahead to enhance equitable opportunities for multilingual learners. The year is off to a dynamic and busy start with statewide educator convenings, virtual training sessions, national communities of practice and more. Looking ahead to March, I’m excited to announce the debut of our Family-School Partnership Webinar Series. This webinar is designed for anyone interested in enhancing multilingual family engagement through SEAL’s family partnership paradigm, fostering connections from classroom instruction to home, families, culture and language. Keep an eye out for registration details coming soon. 

Building on the success of ELRISE!, we join partners to provide learning opportunities through the EWIG/EPiCC grant offering various sessions across the state in partnership with four county offices. We look forward to the work ahead. January also begins the state budget process. I joined various California education and advocacy leaders to share our initial thoughts on the governor’s proposals in this EdSource article. While we are encouraged by the Governor's continued commitment to education, there is still work ahead. I look forward to collaborating with you this year to advocate for continued investments in multilingual education. 

We’ve received an overwhelming positive response to our new P-3 Framework that has opened the doors to various state and national conversations, including U.S. Department of Education roundtable discussions, county level UPK workgroup sessions, and national communities of practice. We are especially proud to partner with national leaders and policymakers to more deeply understand how to ensure kindergarten is a sturdy bridge. The P-3 Framework provides tangible solutions and actionable steps to make kindergarten a transformational experience across early learning and the early elementary grades. 

On a bittersweet note, I invite you to join me in celebrating Patty Delany, Sr. Director of Program and Partnerships, on her well-deserved retirement. It is a mix of joy and nostalgia as I reflect on our journey together, her friendship and collaborative spirit. Patty has been a driving force behind SEAL’s success, dedicating a decade to our mission. While we’ll miss her daily presence, we take pride in the impactful legacy she leaves behind. Cheers to you, Patty! We wish you a retirement filled with joy, relaxation and new adventures. 

In partnership,

Anya Hurwitz

Advocacy. Policy. Research.

YOUR FEEDBACK IS NEEDED BY JAN. 31. Please fill out the CDE Literacy Landscape Survey by January 31, 2024. Share with your network and help us lift up English Learner/Emergent Bilingual education in the "comments and/or concerns" section. CDE's effort to learn what is happening in the field is an important element as California works to strengthen literacy education. Your input is crucial to help them recognize and respond to multilingual needs and reality in language and literacy education in California. CLICK HERE

Share with your network.

PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD. Governor Newsom recently presented his 2024-2025 state budget proposal. It included his solutions to cover the budget shortfall including how to protect education investments. EdSource asked California education leaders and advocates - including SEAL's Executive Director Anya Hurwitz - to share their initial thoughts. From SEAL to Californian's Together, EdTrust West to Superintendent Tony Thurmond, CLICK HERE to hear from diverse perspectives.

ASSEMBLYMEMBER MURATSUCHI VISITS OAK GROVE SCHOOL DISTRICT (OGSD). Asm Al Muratsuchi joined us to experience SEAL classrooms in OGSD and how the EL Roadmap can be implemented. He represents the 66th Assembly District and serves as the Chair of the Assembly Education Committee and member of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Funding. We were very fortunate to have him experience joyful and engaging classrooms first-hand to support and influence his work ahead.

LEGISLATIVE VISIT IN DELHI. We supported our partner, Delhi Unified School District, as they hosted a visit from the California Legislative Staff Education Institute. Their cohort of 18 visited four schools focusing on PreK-3 and experienced how evidence-based multilingual education is implemented for school transformation and connected with families, educators and leadership for a full, inspiring, joyful day. 

SEAL in the Field.

SEAL Webinar Series: FAMILY-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS | MAR. 14, MAR. 28 & APRIL 11

🍎 Educators, this is for you! Gain hands-on tools to build multilingual family-school partnerships. This is the first time SEAL offers this series outside of its Full Model delivery. The three-part webinar offers practical tools and strategies that can be seamlessly integrated into your classrooms. Based on SEAL’s evidence-based approach, this series equips participants with the "how-to" knowledge and skills to implement evidence-based practices that engage culturally and linguistically diverse families for authentic family-school partnerships. Registration opens soon. Seats are limited. Be the first to know. Join our interest list! LEARN MORE.

KINDERGARTEN MATTERS! On January 30, join the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, Sobrato Philanthropies, Children's Equity Project and our very own Executive Director Anya Hurwitz, for a timely and important conversation as we delve into strategies that contribute to creating the most conducive classroom environment for emergent bilinguals’ success in kindergarten! We’ll discuss mitigating the risks associated with high absence rates within the community and ensuring that every emergent bilingual student has the opportunity to thrive academically. REGISTER TODAY!.

UNPACK THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE OF READING AND ENGLISH LEARNERS! In partnership with New America, join us on Feb. 8 for a discussion on this much debated topic, best practices for EL-identified students, and implications for dual language programs. The first panel of experts, moderated by SEAL's Senior Director of Research and Evaluation Martha Martinez, will discuss policy implications for ELs and the second panel will feature state, district and instructional leaders at the forefront of Science of Reading implementation. This is not to be missed! RSVP TODAY!

RETIREMENT REVERIE:

HONORING PATTY DELANEY AND HER IMPACT.

Join us in celebrating the remarkable career of Patty Delaney, our Senior Director of Programs and Partnerships, as she steps into a new journey - retirement! We are honored to have been part of Patty’s 40 year career. Her leadership and long-standing commitment to SEAL’s mission leaves an enduring imprint in SEAL, education and our hearts. It is her commitment to multilingual education that has helped shape SEAL into what it is today. Patty's next chapter will be filled with more time with family, adventure, and reading all the books she's been longing to open!

SEAL is #CABE2024 BOUND! We are excited to join CABE’s 49th annual conference and have developed eight session offerings for participants - educators, community partners and families. We look forward to “Strength in Unity: Embracing the Tapestry of Our Diversity, Cultivating Our Heritage, & Celebrating Our Multilingualism.” February 21 - 24, in Anaheim. View our sessions. See you there.

SEAL PARTNER SCHOOLS HIGHLIGHTED! “Bright Spots: Five Districts Move the English Learner Roadmap Forward,” by Dr. Laurie Olsen in partnership with EL RISE!, highlights SEAL partner schools and implementation of the English Learner Roadmap from TK-12 at a district level. EL RISE! is a collaboration between Californians Together, SEAL and Loyola Marymount University’s Center for Equity for English Learners, funded through an Educator Workforce

Investment Grant from the California Department of Education. The publication highlights strong visionary and advocacy-oriented leadership, investments in professional learning and capacity building and development of district-level systems. DOWNLOAD the report today.

DUAL LANGUAGE CONVENINGS. This fall, we hosted two Dual Language Convenings with school educators and leaders from across the state. More than 88 partners attended each event, sparking cross-district conversations and collaboration. Workshops included the history of bilingualism, genius of the multilingual brain and more.

SEAL LEAD RESEARCHER RECEIVES AWARD AND APPOINTMENT. Our Senior Director of Research & Evaluation, Martha Martinez, was recognized with the Research-to-Policy Collaboration Scholar Award. This prestigious honor from Penn State is given to scholars who demonstrate commitment to achieving the public benefit of research at scale through public policy relationships by engaging in the Research-to-Policy Collaboration. Martha has also been appointed by the State Board of Education to serve on the Reading Difficulties Risk Screener Selection Panel. This group of nine panelists will create an approved list of evidence-based, culturally, linguistically, and developmentally appropriate screening tools for students in K–12 to assess for risk of reading difficulties.

SEAL AT #LACOSECHA2023. We provided two workshops for fellow dual language equity champions from across the nation in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the La Cosecha annual conference. It was inspiring sharing our passion and expertise and hearing from our many partners focused on equity and centralizing the needs of Emerging Bilinguals. Access Resources. 

SEAL ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA

A SEAL classroom and our Associate Director Heather was on Good Morning America. They featured the benefits of bilingual education in American schools, which included footage from SEAL partner New America’s video about our approach to bilingual teaching. Also featured was CEEL partner Dr. Elivra Armas! CHECK IT OUT

SEAL WEBINAR OVERVIEW. Our team participated in many state and national webinars focused on topics related to supporting ELs and DLLs. These are some of the sessions with links to resources

• Elevando las Expectativas: Proporcionándole a cada estudiante un camino hacia el multilingüismo
• Raise the Bar: Supporting Pathways to Multilingualism Beginning with Early Learning
• Unlocking Potential: Nurturing reading skills and biliteracy in English Learners

Resources and Tools.

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