In an effort to ensure that all students have access to a world-class education that prepares them for college and careers, the U.S. Department of Education released a resource guide today to help educators, school leaders and community organizations better support undocumented youth, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

“Our nation’s public schools should be welcoming, safe, and supportive places where all students, regardless of their zip code or where they were born, are given the opportunity to succeed. We know undocumented youth face unique challenges and we also know that educators and other caring adults in schools and colleges can play a major role in helping all students, including undocumented students, to achieve at the highest levels,” said John King, senior advisor delegated the duties of deputy secretary of education. “This guide provides actionable information and resources that educators and school and campus leaders can use to help improve outcomes for high school and college students.”

Enjoy this montage of photos from the MATSOL 2015 Conference. Photographs by Christie C. White.

We are saddened to share the news of the death of Mary-Margaret Almonte on May 12, 2015. Mary-Margaret worked in the Malden public schools, and was a long-time and active MATSOL member. In 2011, she received a Linda Schulman Innovation Grant for the project "Children Reading the World," which promoted literacy by having students take photographs of family and community and work in cooperative groups to develop literacy projects. In 2012, she was recognized for her work with ELLs by receiving the MATSOL Teacher of the Year award. She was a valued colleague and friend, and contributed to MATSOL and our field in many ways. MATSOL extends our deepest condolences to Mary-Margaret's family, friends, students, and colleagues.

• Obituary for Mary-Margaret Almonte.

Mary-Margaret founded Healing Hope, a nonprofit organization that donates pharmacy and food-store gift cards to cancer patients. In lieu of flowers, per her wishes, tax-deductible donations will be gratefully accepted. Please write checks to Freedom Hill Community Church, write “Healing Hope donation” on the memo line and mail to 77 Kennedy Dr., Malden, MA 02148.

A Boston Globe editorial endorses the LOOK Bill filed by Rep. Sánchez and Sen. DiDomenico:

… the solution may lie beyond the Boston school system — more specifically, on Beacon Hill. Massachusetts’ school districts have been restricted in the way they teach English learners since 2002, when a ballot question crippled bilingual education. Districts were required to use “Sheltered English Immersion,” a method that focuses on teaching academic content in English, limiting the help students can receive in their native language…

We had a great turnout for the MATSOL get together at TESOL 2015 in Toronto. It was great to see everyone! 

The MATSOL community is saddened to learn of the death of Robert Saitz, a MATSOL founder, our first President, and an influential leader in our field. We extend our condolences to his family and colleagues.

• Robert Saitz obituary
• The Founding of MATSOL by Robert Saitz

Nominations & Proposals for the MATSOL 2014 Awards are due March 2, 2015. 

Nominate a colleague: 

This report from The Rennie Center identifies and measures state-level indicators linked to outcomes to inform decision-making among Massachusetts education leaders. These indicators focus on critical stages in learning and development from school readiness and early learning to the emergence of a strong and productive workforce. It identifies three areas in which statewide action can build on existing, effective practice to generate significant improvements in student outcomes. 

The Rennie Center identified three areas in which statewide action can build on existing, effective practice to generate significant improvements in student outcomes.

MATSOL is proud to join the Language Opportunity Coalition in announcing that through our efforts assisting our state legislators, two exciting bills have been filed for the 2015-2016 Massachusetts legislative session. One bill establishes a State Seal of Biliteracy.  The second bill, the Language Opportunity for Our Kids (LOOK) bill, addresses language acquisition programs, and also includes the (identical) text as the Seal of Biliteracy bill, giving us two opportunities to seek the seal’s passage. We are asking for your help today to secure co-sponsors for both bills.

Contact your state legislators and ask them to co-sponsor two important bills! The deadline for co-sponsorship is Friday, January 30. Take action now!

From the US Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition: English Learner Tool Kit – Chapter 1: “Tools and Resources for Identifying All English Learners”

This is the first chapter of the English Learner Tool Kit, which is intended to help state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) in meeting their obligations to English Learners (ELs). This tool kit should be read in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice’s joint guidance, “English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents,” which outlines SEAs’ and LEAs’ legal obligations to EL students under civil rights laws and other federal requirements.

The US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights has released new guidance on the civil rights of ELLs and the rights of LEP parents. The resource page includes fact sheets for parents and students in multiple languages, as well as resources for schools and administrators.

See the DOE OCR webpage: Schools’ Civil Rights Obligations to English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents

WIDA and CAL are currently in the process of developing ACCESS 2.0 (Series 401, 2016-17) writing folders and would like to recruit educators for an online Bias, Sensitivity, and Content Review. We would like your assistance with identifying educators for this opportunity. Nominated educators should have experience teaching ELLs. It would be great if they also had Language Arts or Social Studies content background. Due to the format of the meetings being online, it would also be helpful for educators to have participated in Bias, Sensitivity, and Content reviews in the past.

Participants will take part in two online webinars, the first webinar scheduled on January 12, 2015 (4:30-5:30pm EST) and the second webinar scheduled the week of January 19th.

I have attached a memo outlining details of the review process. Please feel free to forward this email and memo to your interested educators. Nominations are due to Pakou Vang ([email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>) by January 2nd, 2015. You may either send in the nominations or have the educator email me directly.

November 2014 is Massachusetts Family Literacy Month! Across the state, many schools, libraries, adult learning centers, parent support programs, social service agencies, and local businesses provide organized activities for families during Family Literacy Month. Many of these events involve hands-on literacy activities for parents and children that demonstrate how parents can engage with their children at home. Storytelling, family math nights, readings by authors and community leaders, interactive sing-a-longs, and creating books and bookmarks are examples of family learning activities. 

• Reading tips sheets, guides and videos
• Online digital children's books

In this TESOL Quarterly article, Jasone Cenoz and Durk Gorter present a critique of the policy of language isolation in TESOL and propose an innovative plurilingual approach to the teaching of English that softens the boundaries between languages. (This article is free to non-members)

Towards a Plurilingual Approach in English Language Teaching: Softening the Boundaries Between Languages
TESOL Quarterly, September 2013: Volume 47, Issue 3 

This new online toolkit is a detailed resource that summarizes what the law requires and provides a clear vision of best practice related to an RTI-based specific learning disability (SLD) Identification process.  The section "Considerations for English Language Learners" contains Information in the following five areas provides guidance for the instruction of students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) and for making valid decisions for determining special education eligibility. 

MATSOL Members got together on September 21 at a MATSOL Meet-Up at the Fitchburg Art Museum to celebrate opening of the exhibits ONE LANGUAGE IS NEVER ENOUGH: Latino Artists in Southern New England / UN IDIOMA NUNCA ES SUFICIENTE: Artistas Latinos en el Sur de Nueva Inglaterra and MARIO QUIROZ: Mis Vecinos, Portraits of Fitchburg’s Latino Communities. Both exhibits will be on display until January (and Mis Vecinos until September 2015). The museum welcomes school groups, so if you are interested it seeing the exhibit with your class, please contact them: www.fitchburgartmuseum.org/

A new report analyses the economic benefit brought by our region's foreign students, with an estimated $1.8 billion spent on tuition and $933 million spent on cost of living over the past four years. Boston has the third largest number of foreign students in the country, with largest numbers at Northeastern, Boston University, and Harvard University. 

This economic benefit is another good reason support fair wages and working conditions for the teachers who are in the classroom educating these students!

A new website for Massachusetts that chronicles the intersection between immigrant integration and early education.  It is primarily a resource for educators, providers and stakeholders - with the emphasis on empowering families and young children. Includes links to training opportunities, data, and an extensive video archive.

www.newamericanchildren.org/

Boston College announcement: The Lynch School of Education will launch a program in September to certify bilingual education teachers who work in schools offering dual-language immersion classes where English- and Spanish-speaking students develop fluency in both languages across their academic subjects.

The Teaching Dual Language Learners (TDLL) Certificate Program is the first to be offered in Massachusetts and builds on the Lynch School’s strengths in bilingual education. The school already offers a certificate in Teaching English Language Learners (TELL) for educators in programs that offer English-only “sheltered” immersion instruction to students. View full article...