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Advocacy Update
The formal session of the Massachusetts state legislature ended at midnight on July 31st, and we are happy to report that both the Senate and House took action on the LOOK Bill! However, the House version of the LOOK bill is quite different from the Senate version, and does not include the Seal of Biliteracy. We are hopeful that the Senate and the House will continue to work together to reconcile the bill and include the Seal of Biliteracy, and then send it to the Governor for his signature before the legislative session ends in December. For more details, read the full statement from the Language Opportunity Coalition...
Senator Sal DiDomenico and Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz wrote an eloquent article about the need for the LOOK Bill in CommonWealth Magazine. Read their Op-Ed...
For more information, see the Language Opportunity Coalition website at wwwl.LanguageOpportunity.org
MATSOL News
MELLC Meeting Schedule
The MATSOL English Learner Leadership Council (MELLC) is a group of directors and coordinators of PK-12 English Learner education programs in Massachusetts. The group meets four times during the school year, and communicates by a private MATSOL E-List. October 14, 2016, December 9, 2016, March 3, 2017 & May 19, 2017. Registration will open soon! More...
MATSOL PLS/IEP Conference - Call for Proposals
We invite you to submit a proposal to present at the one day MASTOL Mini-Conference bringing together educators and administrators in Private Language Schools and Intensive English Programs (PLS & IEPs) from across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts working with adult English language learners at all levels. Call for Proposal Deadline - August 31, 2016 (Note: The call for proposals for the MATSOL 2017 Conference next May/June will open in September) More...
MATSOL Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings in 2016-17
Additional MATSOL SIG meetings dates are still being confirmed, and we will update the MATSOL website with the schedule as soon as they become available.
MATSOL Calendar
- Aug 31: Deadline to submit proposals for Private Language Schools/Intensive English Programs Mini-Conference
- Oct 14: MELLC Meeting #1
- Oct 15: Submissions due for MATSOL Currents
- Oct 21: Community College ESL Mini-Conference
- Oct 29: MATSOL Fall Social
- Nov 12: Private Language Schools/Intensive English Programs Mini-Conference
View calendar...
Community News
Guidance for Defining and Implementing Two-Way Immersion and Transitional Bilingual Education Programs
New guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Sections include Overview: Defining TWI and TBE Programs; Defining and Designing a Two-Way Immersion Program; and Defining and Designing a Transitional Bilingual Education Program. View guidance...
First Seal of Biliteracy Awards in Massachusetts
This spring, the first groups of Massachusetts students received Seal of Biliteracy awards in schools in Andover, Arlington, Brockton, Cambridge, Falmouth, Framingham, Melrose, Wilmington, and Winchester. As we await the passage of legislation to establish the seal at the state level, the pilot project will continue at the local level. Schools or school districts interested in the adopting the Seal are welcome to join the Google Group for the pilot project, and download the Seal of Biliteracy toolkit, which provides information on how to establish and implement the seal at the local level. This project is supported by MATSOL through our membership in the Language Opportunity Coalition. View the Seal of Biliteracy Pilot Project page...
Volunteers Needed for Voter Registration
MIRA Coalition is coordinating voter registration drives through the summer and early fall. Volunteering at MIRA's voter registration drives is fun, easy, and rewarding. Volunteers fill out voter registration forms for newly sworn-in citizens, empowering them with the first rite of passage to becoming an active and engaged citizen. All materials—clipboards, forms, and pins—are provided. The voter registration drives last about one hour. Questions? Please contact Thalita Dias at [email protected]. If you are interested in volunteering, please register here...
English Innovations - ESL & DACA Application Assistance
English Innovations is a short term intensive course for adult immigrants and refugees who are still learning English. The class welcomes students who are DACA eligible and provides legal assistance in completing the DACA application. The program is also open to limited English proficient youth and adults of any immigrant status. Pilot program runs for 12 weeks in East Boston and Roxbury. Future cycles will run in May and September 2016. Sponsored by English for New Bostonians and MIRA Coalition. Want more information? Register here...
Free Assessment Workshop for Teachers of ELLs: Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) and Quick Phonics Survey (QPS)
Begin the year with valuable information about your students. The QRI and QPS are tools for providing information on the specific skills students need to make progress in reading. They enable teachers to go behind the numbers provided by standardized tests such as the MCAS and ACCESS. Attendees will receive an instructional planning guide to help them use literacy information to plan daily instruction. This FREE workshop is specifically designed for teachers working with ELLs. Special emphasis will be on students in grades 3 and above. Thursday August 15, 2016, 10:00 to noon, Wakelin Room, Wellesley Public Library. This event is sponsored by the Massachusetts Reading Association. RSVP to [email protected]
Call for Nominations - Raising our Voices: Recognizing ESOL Leadership in Business and the Community
Nominations are being accepted for English Works Certificates of Recognition for business leaders, ESOL advocates, and ESOL students. Nomination categories:
- Workforce Leaders - Business/labor-management partnerships that support the English language acquisition of immigrant employees
- Agents of Change Leaders - Individuals/organizations that promote opportunities for and raise visibility of limited English speakers
- Rising Star Student Leaders - English-learning employees or students who demonstrate leadership in their studies and advocate for the same opportunities for others.
Nominations are due by Friday, August 26, 2016 and can be submitted online at this link.
Links & Resources
NEWSLETTER
TESOL Connections
MATSOL members receive free access to TESOL Connections, TESOL's monthly online newsletter. The latest issue includes articles on Social Media for Teachers: Twitter for Professional Growth, Applying for a Position in ELT: Behind the Scenes (Part 2), and Better Vocabulary Acquisition: Using Class Logs. Read the latest issue...
RESOURCE
Newcomer Tool Kit
The U.S. Department of Education is pleased to announce the release of its Newcomer Tool Kit, designed to help U.S. educators and others who work directly with immigrant students—including asylees and refugees—and their families. The Newcomer Tool Kit provides (1) discussion of topics relevant to understanding, supporting, and engaging newcomer students and their families; (2) tools, strategies, and examples of classroom and schoolwide practices in action, along with chapter-specific professional learning activities for use in staff meetings or professional learning communities; and (3) selected resources for further information and assistance, most of which are available online. View resource…
WEBINAR
Study on Unaccompanied Children: Factors in Successful Integration
Join USCCB Foster Care and Family Reunification staff to learn about the findings from their recent study on factors in successful integration of unaccompanied children. Themes were gleaned from interviews with youth, caregivers, and case managers, as well as surveys from USCCB's network of foster care and family reunification providers. The presentation will address promising practices in case management and key service areas such as education and legal services, and the importance of youth strengths and relational support. Tuesday, August 9 @ 2pm EST Register...
JOB FAIR
Boston Bilingual and Diversity Job Fair 2016
To share with your bilingual students looking for employment: Are you bilingual or diverse? Join us for a free professional job fair like no other! This is your opportunity to meet with top quality employers seeking diversity in bilingual and professional candidates like you - so bring plenty of copies of your resume and dress to impress, because our employers are looking for hires! More information...
RESOURCE
Database of Non-Native English
After thousands of hours of work, MIT researchers have released the first major database of fully annotated English sentences written by non-native speakers. The researchers who led the project had already shown that the grammatical quirks of non-native speakers writing in English could be a source of linguistic insight. But they hope that their dataset could also lead to applications that would improve computers' handling of spoken or written language of non-native English speakers. Read more... or access the Treebank of Learner English database...
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
TESOL English Language Teaching Development Series
Following the successful publication of the first 23 volumes in the English Language Teacher Development (ELTD) series, TESOL Press and Series Editor Tom Farrell are seeking proposals for the following new topics: Teaching English to Lawyers/Law; Teaching English To Teenagers; Second Language Acquisition Applied & ELT; Learner-centered Teaching; and Curriculum Development. Authors should be language educators who are experienced in their topic areas. Due September 1, 2016 View Call for Proposals...
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
TESOL Putting Research into Practice Series
TESOL Press has a call for abstracts for the following books for a new series, Putting Research Into Practice: Elementary School (Sep 15), Middle School, High School, English as a Foreign Language (rolling deadline). The main goal of the series is to create new spaces for practitioner knowledge and engagement with TESOL research. As a professional community, we are interested in highlighting how TESOL practitioners direct their own professional learning through reading, questioning, interpreting and adapting research findings to and in their own contexts. The result will be a rich collection that adds to the overall knowledge base while also validating the critical role teachers play in TESOL's overall mission to improve learning and teaching. The series will recast the great amount of TESOL material in TESOL Journal, TESOL Quarterly, Essential Teacher and other TESOL Press publications such as the English Language Teaching in Context series. View Call for Abstracts...
View past issues of the MATSOL E-Bulletin online!
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