ELD Department News
Keeping you in the know!
Happy Fall Break!
ELD Think Tank
Please bring a charged device and be ready to share:
- the assessments you intend to use for language and academic growth.
- your questions regarding the Program Evaluation spreadsheet.
- any resources regarding these assessments you plan to use to determine "expected growth". This might be a score interpretation or other type of guide. You will participate in an assessment cohort, and you will come to concensus about what the cohort will expect for students.
- something you provide to teachers of ELs that helps ensure language instruction occurs througout the entire day.
DLMC Resources
Blue WIDA Model bags
If you are using the paper/pencil WIDA Model assessments this year, please do not return the WIDA Model bags to the District Library. These bags should remain at the school site (or at one of the school sites if you are sharing with a partner) for the remainder of the school year. This ensures ELD Specialists will have the materials to test later in the school year. A few Specialists will need to share kits.
Partners:
CRE- Sydni DuCharm; CTE- Lorry Naccarato -share k, 1-2, 3-5
LT Magnet Shari Stertz; CRun Allena Kendall -share k, 1-2, 3-5
BCE Kellie Flowers; EE Nicole Cimbura -share k, 1-2, 3-5
MHE Toni Castrogiovanni; PE Cece Garza -share k, 1-2, 3-5
If you receive district library emails stating that the item is overdue, please respond that you are keeping the materials. The library’s system doesn't allow for year-long check-out, but the librarians are aware that teachers are keeping the bag for the entire school year.
Green and Black Secondary Newcomer bag
These bags should remain at the school site for the school year. Please do not return these bags to the District Library. If someone in your feeder requests a book from the kit, contact the District Library and ask to have the book taken out of your name and re-checked out in the new borrower’s name.
Parent Refusals
If you haven't already done so, please:
- Pull your roster.
- If, under Parent Refusal, a "1" is indicated, that means the student's parents have signed a Parent Refusal.
- Contact the parents and confirm their desire to refuse direct services.
- Obtain a signature on the Parent Refusal form.
- Scan the form to Christina Levesque and Remy Rummel.
Family Outreach Opportunities
ELLP Update
We realize IC issues are getting in the way of completing our ELLPs because we do not have access to the live form for creating new ELLPs. Also, some uploaded forms cannot be copied and edited for this school year. Here are some options for collecting parent signatures at upcoming parent conferences.
- Copy last year's Student Information Sheet you can rename and edit these to be signed now and uploaded later.
- Use the word version of the form to document the accommodations and obtain a parent signature. You don't have to fill out all the blanks usually populated automatically by IC. You will have to transfer the information collected at the parent meeting (signature and accommodations) to the populated form created by IC when it works in the future.
- If you do not have any saved forms you may use a word version. The word version is posted on the Planning: ELLP page of the District ELD google site.
- Use a Goal Sheet to create one goal either for your individual students or group goals.
- Choose to hold ELLP meetings at a later time apart from regular parent teacher conferences. There is funding to provide interpreters for these additional meetings if you decide to conduct a conference at a later date as the time it takes to conduct the conference is the same.
Program Evaluation
One significant part of our OCR agreement is to implement a comprehensive framework for program evaluation. You have been working on starting the program evaluation process by completing your data spreadsheets. If you haven't already, please make a copy of this document to begin documenting and analyzing your students' growth. Here is a link to ELD Program Evaluation FAQs. Stay tuned for a training video!
Would you like to attend?
ELD funds are available for ESL teachers to attend one conference this year (CO-TESOL or CCIRA). ELD funds will cover registration fees and, for secondary teachers, the cost of a full day substitute. Please note: in house class coverage will not be approved for conference attendance.
In order to participate with ELD funds, you must agree to the following:
1) you will attend the full day(s) for which you register,
2) you will submit a post-conference document indicating all sessions attended, a brief summary of key points, and how you will use the learning with the students/teachers in your building, and
3) you will "pay it forward" by providing professional development/support to other teachers in your building and/or the district.
If you agree to the stipulations above, and have permission from your building administrator to attend, please complete this form. Deadline to submit interest is Friday, October 7th.
Important Notes From Our Last Newsletter
ELD Support Sessions
ELD Teachers are not required to attend support sessions and should not try to attend all of the support sessions as they are intended to provide ample support for the entire ELD Department. It is the ELD teacher’s responsibility to secure the principal's or supervising administrator's approval prior to attending a Support Session. If a staff member attends a Support Session, it is assumed he or she has obtained permission to attend.
Individual google calendar invitations will be sent for each Support Session, and we appreciate your RSVP if you plan to attend. Each Support Session will be posted on the ELD Department Calendar. If there are no "yes" rsvps, the Support Session will be cancelled.
ELD Programming Expectations
CU Denver CLD Cohort - Pass it On!!
Effective practices are critical in supporting every student in the school experience, including English Learners. DCSD is excited to partner with CU Denver to offer an opportunity for certified staff to earn Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) graduate courses leading to the CLD Endorsement and/or Master's Degree.
If you or someone you know is interested in earning the CLD certificate, endorsement or Master's Degree, please contact Remy Rummel and Cindy Close.
Professional Development - Timely Topics!!
TIMELY TOPICS
On Saturday, October 22nd, Personalized Learning will be hosting a full-day professional development event at Cresthill Middle School. (Note location change)
Over 25 different half-day and full-day classes available for DCSD and Charter School Certified, Classified, and Admin/Pro-Tech staff.
Please see current schedule linked HERE for specific class listings and times.
Jenifer Nerwin jdnerwin@dcsdk12.org with questions.
Also . . .
A variety of ELD courses are now open for registration. Please see THIS LINK as it includes an updated list of course offerings related to Personalized Learning.
Quick Links
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/109415669014016956676
District ELD Google site - including the ELD Department calendar on the HOME page
https://sites.google.com/a/dcsdk12.org/district-esl-site/home