Category: Project or Resource Area

Project: National Comprehensive Center Multilingual Learner Work Group

As part of its work to support regional comprehensive centers, SRI leads the Multilingual Learner (ML) Work Group, which brings together staff from federally funded comprehensive centers who work with states around issues to support multilingual learners.

Podcast on Multilingual Learners: Knowing Your Students and Research

SRI Education’s Carrie Parker sat down with Ruchika Chopra of the Urban Collaborative to discuss Carrie’s research and reflections on policies and practices around identifying and supporting multilingual learners with disabilities in kindergarten to third grade.

Resource: Multilingual Learners: Knowing Your Students and Research Podcast Episode

SRI’s director of Multilingual Learner Program Area, Carrie Parker, co-hosted this episode and shares reflections from work she has done over the last five years to better understand how teachers in grades K-3 identify disabilities among multilingual learners.

For English Learner Students’ Reclassification, Effective Teachers Matter

Reclassification from English learner to English proficient is a crucial outcome for English learner (EL) students’ academic progress because it can open the door to more rigorous courses and lead to stronger academic outcomes.

Bilingual Education Research: How to connect in a culturally relevant way with Spanish speaking families

When I arrived in the United States, I was not quite eight, and did not know how to even say “hello” in English. All I knew was that education was my opportunity to live a better life, and that I had to learn English to access it.

A move towards multilingual: why this term is better than others [for now]

The language we use affects the way we perceive our world. Language can help create new understandings and expand our view of what exists and what is possible, and it also can limit our understanding. The terms we use to describe students who speak two or more languages or speak a language other than English at home, for example, impacts how we envision and develop programs and policies for those students.

Valuing and evaluating an único bilingual professional development program – BBILY

We’re evaluating BBILY, an online PD program focused on biliteracy, culturally and linguistically responsive learning, and evidence-based practices to support bilingual students.

Resource: Newcomer Wellness Initiative 2019-20 Evaluation Report

This report shares findings from a survey conducted with Newcomer students, defined as individuals attending schools in the United States for three years or less and who speak a language other than English at home, in Oakland Unified School District. The survey was designed to inform the work of the Newcomer Wellness Initiative, a program … Continue reading Newcomer Wellness Initiative 2019-20 Evaluation Report

Resource: Think Forward New England: Profiles of Innovation | Margarita Muñiz Academy

Margarita Muñiz Academy in Boston, MA, was founded in 2012 with the mission of providing full cultural and linguistic fluency in Spanish and English for all of its students. The school’s development of its “Portrait of a Scholar” project led to a number of changes focused on providing greater opportunities for student voice and participation. … Continue reading Think Forward New England: Profiles of Innovation | Margarita Muñiz Academy

Project: Bilingual/Biliterate Instruction for Bilingual Youth (BBILY) Evaluation

SRI Education is leading an external evaluation of bilingual professional development developed by faculty from Santa Clara University and San Jose State University. The National Professional Development Program of the Office of English Language Acquisition has funded this 5-year project to develop bilingual professional development for in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, and student caregivers. The project … Continue reading Bilingual/Biliterate Instruction for Bilingual Youth (BBILY) Evaluation

Project: Think Forward New England: New England’s Education Systems Navigate COVID-19 and Map a New Way Forward

The Adapting and Innovating Project examined the experiences of students, teachers and administrators across New England districts during the 2020-2021 school year to better understand how they responded to COVID. The work included an Innovation Profile of the Maria Muniz Academy, the only dual language high school in Boston, as well as a blog summarizing … Continue reading Think Forward New England: New England’s Education Systems Navigate COVID-19 and Map a New Way Forward

Educators talk about identifying disabilities among multilingual learners

Many teachers struggle with identifying disabilities among multilingual learners. How can they determine whether a particular child’s learning difficulties stem from typical English language development or a diagnosable learning disability?

Project: First 5 Dual Language Expansion Pilot San Francisco

The First 5 Dual Language Expansion Pilot project provides an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Dual Language Supports for Early Learning Settings tool with coaches supporting educators implementing personalized oral language learning (POLL) strategies to ensure full access and effective participation of children who are Dual Language Learners (birth to age 5) and their families.

Project: Pathway for Academic Success

The evaluation of the Pathway to Academic Success expansion grant is a 2-year RCT designed to meet WWC group standards without reservations that assesses the impact of this reading and writing intervention for teachers who serve secondary English Learners. It also includes a 1-year implementation study, which focuses specifically on how Pathway instructional strategies and … Continue reading Pathway for Academic Success

Project: REL Northeast & Islands Virgin Islands English Learner Project

For the last two years, a team of educators from the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) has collaborated with REL Northeast & Islands researchers on a project designed to ensure equitable access to high-quality instruction for USVI English learners. The team—composed of two administrators from the Virgin Islands Department of Education (VIDE), two district English as … Continue reading REL Northeast & Islands Virgin Islands English Learner Project