Weekly Update
Wayne Township LAP 3/20/2020
The Latest News from WIDA
The requirement to give WIDA Screener to assess language proficiency has been canceled during school closures due to the COVID virus.
As we move to remote teaching, adminstrators and teachers are concerned about the challenges of online learning for ELs. WIDA has compiled a list of resources, Teaching Multilingual Learners Online, that teachers will find helpful. Please share this list - it reminds us to shift our thinking to what English Learners can do using the ten WIDA guiding principals of Language Development.
The Pre-Reporting Data Validation Window for ACCESS for ELS opens on Monday, March 23, and closes on Friday, April 3, 2020. The data validation process allows test coordinators to identify student demographic, accommodation, or other testing information that could potentially contain errors, and provides the opportunity for error correction, before the students' score reports are sent to schools. Test Coordinators can find more information at the Data Validation Tutorial found here.
COVID Resources for eLearning
The Indiana Department of Education has created this website to provide educators and families with resources to support continuing learning as well as IDOE COVID Resources to provide information to schools during this time.
WeAreTeachers has compiled a comprehensive list of online learning resources for teachers.
Scholastic offers cross-curricular learning "journeys" that students of all ages will find engaging.
Requirements for English Learners During School Closures
IDOE has released guidance for schools on their continued requirements for serving English Learners in an online setting. It includes guidance on instructional services, communication with families, and creating a draft ILP if necessary.
Brave Conversations about Racism in Schools
UnboundEd offers school leaders a free Disrupting Inequity Toolkit for facilitating conversations about race, bias, and prejudice in our society. The toolkit includes case studies, Powerpoint presentations, and discussion guides.
Math Materials for English Learners
What kind of math instruction, materials, and assessments are considered best for ELs? How can we increase rigor in the mathematical language our students are using in math classrooms? The English English Learners Success Forum has published Guidelines for Improving Math Materials for ELs to offer strategies and resources for math teachers of all grades.
Teaching Metacognition To Improve Reading Comprehension
Reading specialist Brooke MacKenzie writes that students who use metacognition monitor their comprehension of a text while they read and make conscious adjustments as needed. In this article from Edutopia, she shares a minilesson about monitoring comprehension that will help students recognize when they are no longer understanding a text and how to fix this.