This book is a road map for teachers and school leaders who need to meet the needs of increasing numbers of Newcomers and other English Learners (ELs). Authors Margarita Espino Calderón and Shawn Slakk draw from years of experience in working with, listening to, and coaching administrators, teachers, and coaches nationwide to help you develop and…

This toolkit is for school districts that are considering using text messaging to improve attendance. Text messaging can reach large numbers of parents with minimal cost. This toolkit is intended to enable district leaders and staff to: (1) Consider goals and priorities for using text messaging to communicate with parents about student absences;…

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released joint guidance on January 7, 2015, reminding states, school districts, and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English Learners (ELs) have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and implementing regulations maintain requirements for State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs) to prepare and disseminate report cards that provide information on State, LEA, and school performance and…

Community asset mapping is an approach that school counselors can use to locate resources to meet the needs of families, schools, and communities. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how school counselors might use community asset mapping to address the needs of their population(s), illustrated with an example of implementation in a…

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is a framework for delivering effective and efficient services and supports to meet the needs of all young children and their families so they can achieve essential developmental and early academic learning outcomes. With this evidence-based planning book and video set, you'll discover how to design,…

This EEF guidance report reviews the best available research to offer schools and teachers four recommendations to support parental engagement in children's learning. Parents play a crucial role in supporting their children's learning, and levels of parental engagement are consistently associated with better academic outcomes. Evidence from our…

This guidance is written to assist State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) in understanding and implementing the report card requirements under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA). Although each SEA and LEA may consider this guidance in developing and…

The Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA) Network, under contract with the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), has created a framework that can be used to plan, implement, and evaluate professional development for practitioners working with adult English language learners at the state, regional, and program levels. The…

California's framework for second language education describes the state's requirements for development of effective foreign language instruction in the public schools. Chapters address these topics: (1) the economic, civic, and cultural benefits of a foreign language program; (2) characteristics of an effective program, including…

In this practitioners' guide, a recognized reading expert explains how educators, parents, and concerned citizens can spot ineffective reading programs that may hide under the "scientifically-based" banner. Although the term "whole language" is not commonly used today, programs based on its premises remain popular. These…

Describes the Strategic Interaction Approach, which is built around the use of scenarios, rather than a grammar syllabus, and requires students to work through communication problems. Discusses its usefulness for short term courses aimed toward training professionals to gain working knowledge in specific fields. (EKN)

Discusses the pros and cons of the Dartmouth Intensive Language Model (DILM) and offers some advice on introducing such a program in any language. Concludes that DILM-trained students do learn to communicate more effectively than traditionally taught beginners. (EKN)

This bilingual program quality review instrument is intended as a guide for school district personnel to design and improve bilingual education programs. It can be used for the following purposes: as an on-site review instrument to provide formative evaluation input about language-minority group programs; as a device for collecting information at…

Reviews educational research on bilingual education and describes biases present in recent evaluations of bilingual programs. Contrary to assumptions about bilingual programs, recent findings suggest that native-language programs may be very effective. They support a strong foundation in the native language and set the basis for subsequent…