New Blog Series Asks Major Questions Around Assessment Themes Inside the Language Classroom

Check out the Multilingual Mysteries Blog Series from the Center for Applied Linguistics.

The series is penned by Margo Gottlieb, who has devoted her professional career to improving educational opportunities for multilingual learners. In the posts, Margo delves into “Multilingual Mysteries” around the topic of classroom assessment. Every other week, she poses different scenarios to readers to consider and vote on.

Here are her most recent blogs posts:

• Is it counterintuitive to assess in multiple languages when accountability rests in English?

• Is it equitable to have the same grading policy for all students, including multilingual learners?

• Do translations and transadaptations of tests into languages other than English serve as equity tools for assessing multilingual learners?

• To Translanguage or Not To Translanguage?

• Should multimodalities be incorporated into testing and assessment for multilingual learners?

• How can we offset "COVID slide" for multilingual learners through classroom assessment?

• Should we expand or diminish the role of assessment for multilingual learners?

IES BLOG: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage in Education

Hispanic Heritage Month was celebrated from September 15 to October 15 this year. There was much to be thankful for, but also much work still to do.

In our work at the Center for the Success of ELs (CSEL), an IES funded National Research and Development Center, our team is diligently working to clarify issues related to English learner (EL) classification and achievement, as well as the special challenges brought on by the pandemic, and to identify future challenges to which we must turn our attention.

Read Full Article on "Inside IES"

Do you work with English Learners? Join this online focus group!

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Interested? Complete this survey.

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The Center of the Success of English Learners (CSEL) is calling on all educators of English Learners grades 6-12 in Texas or New York to participate in a research study to understand the experiences of multi-language learners and English Learners (ELs) as they navigate course-taking in middle and high school.

We hope to learn about the supports, challenges, and overall experiences of the educators that support ELs. Your participation will provide important information about how to improve experiences for English Learners. For more information, continue reading!

Who Can Participate:

• Secondary educators, grades 6-12, with experience working with ELs;

• Can come from any of the following backgrounds:

  • general education teachers, teachers of EL students, ESL/Bilingual education coordinators, LPAC coordinators/administrators/members, school administrators, and guidance counselors;

• Must work in a public, non-charter school;

• Must be have experience in Texas or New York.

What You'll Do:

Participate in one OR two 90-minute Zoom focus groups:

• Answering open-ended questions about working with ELs

• Providing feedback on a survey about working with ELs

Compensation:

Educators will receive $50 upon completion for each focus group.

YOUR ANSWERS ARE CONFIDENTIAL • YOUR PARTICIPATION IS VOLUNTARY • YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE IMPORTANT

Interested?

Please complete this survey to express your interest in participating:

https://nyu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0dEAbK73FvpEESh

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For more information please contact:

Dr. Jeremy Miciak at the University of Houston (Jeremy.Miciak@times.uh.edu)