Professional Development

Raytown School District Enhances ELL Parent Engagement

NCLR Padres Comprometidos Summer Training of Trainers

An ongoing conversation that is once again at the forefront of educator discussions comes in light of ESSA. According to EdWeek, ESSA continues to encourage schools to strengthen the ability of ELL families to engage meaningfully with schools about their child’s education. This fall Wendy Mejia, ELL Coordinator for Raytown School District, and Guadalupe Magaña, UMKC-RPDC MELL are piloting a family engagement program designed for parents and guardians who are also English language learners.

Preparations for the pilot began at the end of June 2016, when I accompanied Wendy Mejia to Fort Worth, Texas, for an invitational four-day training of trainers hosted by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) to obtain certification in NCLR’s Padres Comprometidos (PC) model. PC is a tested and proven effective parent engagement program for parents and guardians who are also English learners. Guadalupe Magaña completed PC training shortly after her arrival at the UMKC-RPDC in July and brings a wealth of experience that will strengthen MELL’s capacity to offer PC to additional districts.

Wendy Mejia, ELL Coordinator, Raytown School District (right) and Diane Mora, UMKC-RPDC MELL Instructional Specialist at NCLR — Wendy Mejia, ELL Coordinator, Raytown School District (right) and Diane Mora, UMKC-RPDC MELL at NCLR training

“I am excited to offer Padres Comprometidos to our Spanish-speaking secondary parents here in Raytown because it’s a great curriculum designed to give parents the knowledge and tools they need so that they can more fully engage with our district to be more actively involved in their children’s education. I think parents will learn so much! I look forward to working with Guadalupe Magaña to initiate the program here.” — Wendy Mejia, ELL Coordinator, Raytown School District

PC is broken into three levels of programming to address the specific informational needs of families of kindergarten, elementary, and secondary students. The grade-specific design of PC is a major factor of its success. The different tool kits take into account the differences in the “language” educators use to discuss student performance during parent-teacher meetings, for example. But PC addresses much more than parent-teacher conferences. Its design contains highly relevant information for families who need English language support while also increasing their understanding of how to navigate school protocols, engage with school personnel, and advocate effectively for their student’s academic success. All PC materials are available in English and Spanish which makes the training materials and the parent/guardian materials easily accessible for districts with higher concentrations of Spanish-speaking families.

Guadalupe Magaña, UMKC-RPDC MELL, prepares for Padres Comprometidos.

Guadalupe has also embraced the training and the project with enthusiasm. After completing training, she expressed her passion for this initiative:

“Padres Comprometidos is here to make a change in the Hispanic families. The goal of this program is to motivate parents to [encourage] their children to go to college by building communication between school and parents, and understanding what is needed to go to college.” – Guadalupe Magaña, UMKC-RPDC MELL Instructional Specialist

Raytown School District is further supporting the implementation of the first PC cohort with provisions for day care, refreshments, and supplies. All of which demonstrates the district’s sensitivity to creating a welcoming environment for families, and underscores the district’s commitment to fostering parent engagement and family participation. Dr. Janie Pyle, Associate Superintendent of Curriculum Instruction and Assessment, Raytown School District, commented,

“This will support parent involvement activities for our ESL families.” –Janie Pyle, Associate Superintendent, Raytown School District

Watch for an announcement communicating the date for Guadalupe to provide additional information at a 2016-2017 ELL Consortium meeting (date to be set). She and Wendy will also share updates about how the pilot is progressing in Raytown.

Based on the anticipated success of Raytown’s first parent cohort, Guadalupe is looking for two additional districts who are also willing to host a cohort during the 2016-2017 school year. To find out more about PC and discuss the requirements for hosting a cohort of parents/guardians in your district, please email Guadalupe Magaña, maganag@umkc.edu.

In 2015-2016 the KCMELLblog featured the ELL parent digital literacy efforts at Center School District. If you have an effective family engagement practice or model to share, please scroll down to the “Leave a comment” button and share your ideas! We would love to feature your district’s great work in a future blog post. You may also share by emailing Diane Mora, morad@umkc.edu

Center School District Teachers Spend Summer in Guatemala

Center School District teachers completed a two-week Spanish-language immersion trip to Guatemala this summer after being awarded a travel grant offered by the Kauffman Foundation and Fund for Teachers. Teachers participating in the trip were Kindergarten teacher, Rita Galle; Christian Nord (P.E.); Cayetana Maristela (ELL); Beth Eastman (Speech/ECE); Suzanne Turner (Art); Amy Carr (Art); and Tieranni Potts (1st Grade).

Center School District teachers with their Spanish-language teachers in Guatemala.

The team chose an immersion program run by Escuela Juan Sisai in Xela (Quetzaltenango). Cayetana Maristela speaks highly of the experience and considers the school’s Spanish language package a great value at $210 per week for five, five-hour 1:1 Spanish classes. Although Cayetana was an ELL student during her K-12 education and is a highly fluent adult, she said this trip increased her empathy for ELL students at Center. When asked to describe the experience of being back in the student’s role of learning a new language (in this case Spanish), Cayatena said,

“This is the first time I’ve tried to learn Spanish formally. As a 53 year old, it’s not that easy.”

Laughing at her own frustration about being corrected by her Spanish-language teacher in Guatemala this summer, Cayetana asked,

“Are you really going to hold me to the correct verb tense?”

To which her teacher promptly replied, “Yes. You really do need to know the correct verb tense.” The experience gave Cayetana an opportunity to reflect on how often she’s said something similar to ELLs at Indian Creek and Red Bridge.

Cayatana Maristela pictured with her Spanish-language teacher, Carolina Molina, showing offer her Spanish-language certificate.

Despite the challenges, I’m happy to report that Cayetana did graduate from her summer learning program! The photo to the right, proves it.

Sisai School also provided two mini conferences during the week. During her two-week stay, Cayetana attended mini conferences featuring Gabriel Garcia Marquez (writer from Colombia), the legends of Guatemala, and an exploration of the volcanoes of Guatemala.

As a way to immerse travelers in the language and culture, Sisai School placed the Center teachers with host families who provided three meals each day, including weekends. Many of the families have hosted students for several years. Cayetana advises,

“If you’re considering an immersion trip through Sisai School, remember that there is no heating system – during the rainy season, be prepared to bring heavier clothing, jackets with hoods, and umbrellas!

Inside this cup, Cayatan holds hot chocolate she and the other Center teachers made during a tour of a local chocolatier. — Inside this cup, Cayetana holds hot chocolate she and the other Center teachers made during a tour of a local chocolatier.

Sisai Spanish School also offered optional afternoon activities (some are free). These ranged from cooking classes, walking tours of cemeteries, visits to a chocolatier, a visit with AMA (an organization that promotes women’s concerns), a visit to a hot spring, volcano climbing, and trips to an outdoor market in another town via a ride on the “chicken” bus.

School also offers a laundry service. You simply bring your dirty clothes to school when you arrive for the morning class, and by the end of the day your clothes are returned clean and folded. There is a charge for the laundry service, calculated by the weight of the clothes.

Traveling to Guatemala itself was easy and inexpensive. Plane tickets cost about $600.00, and transportation from Guatemala City to Xela and back was an additional $100.00. The group decided to spend one night in Guatemala City, so there was an additional cost for the hostel that night.

“I would return again. In fact, we met a woman from Germany [who was on] her third time in Xela!” – Cayetana Marisela

When asked how her experiences in Guatemala will impact her practice as an ELL teacher, Cayetana didn’t hesitate to find the right words,

“The trip renewed my empathy for ELLs because as much as we think we know [about teaching], I don’t remember my own experience of being an ELL student trying to learn English. I’d forgotten how hard it is.”

If you have questions about her experience in Guatemala or about her experience applying for the Funds for Teachers grant, you can reach Cayetana Maristela, ELL teacher in Center School District, at cmaristela@center.k12.mo.us

Dandelions along a footpath in Guatemala.

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” ~Aristotle.

Did you have a unique or inspiring experience this summer that will impact your teaching? Please share via “Leave a Comment” or email, Diane Mora, MELL Instructional Specialist, at morad@umkc.edu. I’d love to write about you!

Missouri Updates ELL Screening Process 2016-2017

As a part of federal requirements, districts are required to identify incoming students who qualify as English language learners (ELLs). Since the 2010-2011 academic year, Missouri districts have used the paper based W-APT screening assessment provided by WIDA.

With the move to online English proficiency testing, WIDA has also been working on an updated Online Screener – to replace the W-APT for grades 1-12. Originally, the screener was to be available prior to the start of the academic year, but the release date has been pushed back to an anticipated date of October 2016.

The W-APT Kindergarten screener will remain as is.

Implementation Schedule

For more information about ELL Screening procedures, please reference the 2016-2017 ELL Screening Process guide, found on the DESE website at:

https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-ell-screening-process-guide-1617.pdf

If you have questions please contact the assessment section at 573-751-3545 or assessment@dese.mo.gov.

KCPS Uses Data to Drive Academic Success for ELLs

I can’t say enough good things about Allyson Hile, Director of ELL Services at Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS), and her entire staff. On April 11, Allyson and Stephanie Easley, ELL Assessment Coordinator at KCPS, gave an informative presentation to ELL Coordinators from surrounding districts. During the presentation Allyson and Stephanie shared their strategies for comparing MAP achievement to language proficiency, enabling them to make better informed decisions about cohort improvements and successes.

Recently they also began making use of new data reports available from WIDA through ELLevation, a data management software specifically for ACCESS data. The data digs are paying off, enabling KCPS to see more than just student trends, but also cohort trends that point to teaching practices having the greatest impact on improving the academic performance of ELLs.

Near the end of the presentation, Allyson talked about a highly valuable yet unintended outcome of their hard work – which has been the ability to use this data in district and building-level conversations about student success. Given that the KCPS is home to over 4,000 ELLs speaking about 40 different first languages, building and classroom teacher buy-in is necessary to sustain the supports the ELL staff can offer.

With Allyson’s permission, I’m happy to provide a downloadable version of the step-by-step PowerPoint that was shared, Using data for ELL Success.

Additional questions or sharing ideas of how you’re using data in your district may be posted as a reply to this story, or you may contact Allyson Hile, Director of ELL Services, KCPS at ahile@kcpublicschools.org

All PD is not created alike

I’ve just finished reading Work Simply by Carson Tate. (I found audio and print versions at my public library.)

Tate’s last two chapters (14 and 15), Lead a Meeting Revolution and Putting it All Together, respectively, offer some solid reminders for why all meetings should not be created alike. She also offers profiles of how participants process information differently based on “personal productivity styles.”

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how to up my game in the creation and delivery of PD versus trainings versus meetings – Tate’s insights on how to organize meetings toward a specific outcome aren’t 100% new, but she does offer some solid reminders that are all too easy to forget.

Work Simply: Embracing the Power of your Personal Productivity Style by Carson Tate, published 2015 by Portfolio/Penguin

ISBN: 978-1-59184-730-4