Effective Spanish Language Arts Materials for MLLs

‍Session 5

La trascendencia de la calidad en los materiales didácticos | Quality Matters in Spanish Language Arts Materials

Date: August 13; 10:00 am - 11:30 am PT / 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm EST

Audience: 

Anyone interested in K - 5 Spanish Language Arts (SLA) as part of a dual language or bilingual program, specifically:

• content developers, 
• state or district education agencies, and 
• classroom educators.

The White House recently launched the Being Bilingual is a Superpower initiative. There are thousands of dual language and bilingual programs in the United States, with 80% of those being Spanish/English programs. And yet, no one has looked closely at the quality and effectiveness of Spanish Language Arts materials. At ELSF, we have received requests from state and local education agencies and from publishers asking for guidance on quality Spanish Language Arts instructional materials. In response, Dr. Rebecca Blum Martínez has conducted a review of the current landscape of SLA instruction and existing resources; based on those findings, along with input from a panel of expert advisors, ELSF has created Guidelines and Benchmarks of Quality that articulate what high-quality SLA instructional materials should include. 

Join us for a webinar where we will:

• provide a high-level overview of the findings of Dr. Blum Martínez’s research brief,
• lift up some of the needs and gaps expressed by focus groups, and
• review critical focus areas, included in both the Guidelines and the Benchmarks of Quality, that are essential for high-quality SLA instructional materials.

The webinar will include two panels, the first with bilingual/dual language expert advisors, and the second with practitioners who lead bilingual and dual language programs in their districts. Panelists will describe the best elements that should be included in Spanish Language Arts materials, shedding light on the path forward to develop, adopt, and implement higher-quality SLA materials in a dual language or bilingual setting. 

Panelists include: 

• Rebecca Blum Martínez, National Dual Language Advisor, English Learner Success Forum
• Patricia Velasco, Associate Professor (retired), Queens College, CUNY
• Sandra Musanti, Professor, University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley
• Altagracia Delgado, Executive Director of Multilingual Services, Aldine (TX) Independent School District
• Olimpia Bahena, Deputy Chief Language and Cultural Education Officer, Chicago Public Schools
• Erica Piedra, Executive Officer, English Learner Services, Multilingual/Multicultural Education, Fresno (CA) Unified School District

Please note that the focus of this session will not be the Science of Reading but Spanish language arts.

Series format:

• Live webinars. Recordings will be available following the live event.  

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