March 2018 Newsletter

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University of Wisconsin-Madison Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Gail Prasad is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on children's social representations of multilingualism and building teachers' and students' language awareness in contexts of linguistic diversity.

Her current research project is Awareness Matters: Conceptualizing Multilingualism as a Resource in Schools. Prasad is collaborating with Mariana Castro and Jon Nordmeyer from WIDA. In the context of transnational mobility and widespread cultural and linguistic diversity, this inquiry addresses the question: How can schools transform linguistic diversity into a resource for improving all students' academic and social outcomes? Learn more about Dr. Prasad's work here.

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Research at WIDA

WIDA is a research center at heart, and as part of the world-class School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we have a strong commitment to disciplined inquiry. We are currently undertaking three studies that relate to our international work and look forward to contributing to the body of scholarship about international schools.

1. School leaders' experiences in supporting multilingual learners' education in international school contexts. The purpose of this study is to learn about experiences and practices of educators in international schools supporting multilingual students. We will explore how schools organize EAL programs, professional development, decision making, and local policies related to serving multilingual students in different international schools.
2. WIDA and International Baccalaureate: Framework Intersections. How do IB and WIDA frameworks connect in their mission and vision? How do WIDA tools and IB curriculum serve teaching and learning? Through this study, we are learning how educators integrate WIDA and IB resources to support scaffolding, inquiry and academic rigor for multilingual learners. We will publish the outcomes as a WIDA Focus Bulletin including annotated artifacts from educators.
3. WIDA MODEL in International Contexts. The aims of this research study are to gain a better understanding of how WIDA MODEL is used in the International Consortium, how WIDA can support specific use cases, and the extent to which WIDA MODEL scores provide information about students' language proficiency that is consistent with the views that educators have about these students' language development. Please contact Jenny Hill-Wild at hillwild@wisc.edu with questions about these research initiatives.

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English Language Development Standards -We Need Your Input

In 2019, WIDA will introduce a standards-based instructional framework to complement our existing system of standards, assessments and classroom resources. Educators in both the US WIDA Consortium and WIDA International Consortium will be invited to engage in a 3-year implementation process. Learn more about how you can help with this initiative at the English Language Development (ELD) Standards page.

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WIDA Early Years in China

WIDA Early Years Director, Lorena Mancilla, and WIDA Executive Director, Tim Boals, recently traveled to Hangzhou, China as keynote speakers for the ACAMIS Early Childhood Education 2018 Conference on Promoting Multilingualism: Engaging Families and Communities. Hosted by Hangzhou International School, this conference brought together educators from across China and Mongolia who engaged with WIDA Promising Practices: An Overview of Essential Actions to Support Dual Language Development in Early Care and Education Settings which offers practical, proven suggestions in a practitioner-friendly format.

Dr. Mancilla presented on Changing the Rules of Engagement: Considerations for Strengthening Family Engagement which highlighted the need to critically examine the "rules of engagement" that drive beliefs, conceptualizations, and school-based practices. Dr. Boals spoke about Promoting Multilingual Student Engagement and Success to consider how to create and sustain culturally and linguistically engaging spaces for young multilingual learners. A highlight of the conference was a parent panel to learn more about how parents view early learning. WIDA is grateful for the collaboration of ACAMIS in this exciting event!

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Upcoming Conferences

Join WIDA at the following conferences for a chance to reconnect with former colleagues, meet new friends and expand your personal learning network.

If you are hosting a conference or are planning to submit a presentation about WIDA, please let us know so we can add it to on our Conferences page: contact Jenny Hill-Wild at hillwild@wisc.edu.

The conference gave us many ideas we will bring back. It also supports that it is important to continue developing a child's first language and that learning a language takes time. I wish our whole school has been able to attend the conference! —ACAMIS ECE participant

CEESA Annual Conference
"Empowered Learners"
Prague, Czech Republic - Mar 15-17, 2018
Presenter: Jon Nordmeyer

AASSA 2018 Educators' Conference
Quito, Ecuador - March 22-24, 2018
Featured presenter: Mariana Castro

WIDA Annual Conference
Detroit, Michigan, USA - October 23-26, 2018

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WIDA Screener Webinar and Online Training Course

Curious about the WIDA Screener? Visit the WIDA International website to watch an introductory webinar recorded on January 18. In this video Mark Chapman, WIDA Director of Test Development, and Jon Nordmeyer, WIDA Director of International Programs, share information about this assessment. Click here to access the webinar!

Ready to complete the WIDA Screener training course? Visit the WIDA Screener page to start today. Please note: all test administrators need the school's member login information in order to complete the training course and quizzes. If you do not know, or have forgotten your login credentials, please email store@wceps.org.

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Bangkok Symposium

February 10-11, 2018 | Bangkok, Thailand An incredible group of passionate and insightful educators joined us for a deep dive into activity systems to serve multilingual learners at the WIDA Symposium in Bangkok last month. Using principles of improvement science, we co-developed tools and processes to support schools across the global WIDA network, building on work shared by teachers in Rome and planting seeds for the next Symposium in Lima in April. We at WIDA are grateful for the opportunity to be involved in this important and exciting work!

"The time to collaborate with educators from other international schools was invaluable. I am very motivated and excited to bring these ideas and tools back to my school!"

"This has not only given me an excellent idea of how to use WIDA, but also given our ELL team ideas and planning guides which can focus areas for school improvement. This has given us common ground for the Next Steps and a network to help us with our mission."

"The Symposium included a really helpful range of activities to support thinking about implementation of WIDA at the school level; I feel my knowledge of WIDA & its possibilities has definitely deepened and have definitely gained a better idea of next steps within my own context. I underestimated the resources that WIDA has to offer so I'm really glad to have joined this and recognize the value of WIDA!"

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WIDA Global Professional Learning Opportunities

WIDA Symposium: Focus on School-Wide Systems to Serve Multilingual Learners April 7-8, 2018 | Lima, Peru If you are already familiar with WIDA, and are looking to expand school-wide systems with a focus on implementation, please consider joining us! A few spaces are available.

WIDA Institute: Implementing the WIDA Standards and Assessment System in International Contexts
July 11-14, 2018 | Madison, WI, USA
Early bird discount ends April 20, 2018

Connecting WIDA Spanish Language Development Standards with Practical Tools for Effective Dual Language Classroom Instruction
April 10-11, 2018 Atlanta, GA
Presenters: Mariana Castro (WIDA) and José Medina (CAL)

Leading Schools for Language Learner Achievement
June 19-21, 2018 | Raleigh, NC
Early Bird Registration Deadline - April 23, 2018

Scaffolding Learning Through Language
July 31-August 2, 2018 Salt Lake City, UT
Early Bird Registration Deadline - June 5, 2018

Leading Schools for Language Learner Achievement
August 14-16, 2018 St. Louis, MO
Early Bird Registration Deadline - June 19, 2018

CLIMBS Training-of-Trainers Institute
June 26-28, 2018: Madison WI
Applications accepted January 29-April 30, 2018

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Have You Hired a New EAL Teacher?

As international schools continue to expand their EAL programs, new teachers are hired and the orientation process begins. If your school will be welcoming new colleagues next school year, consider sending them to the WIDA International Institute during July. A WIDA International Institute is a four-day, comprehensive introduction to how WIDA resources work together as a system. This learning opportunity is designed for educators who are not yet familiar with WIDA. The summer institute is the perfect opportunity for new EAL teachers, or teachers who are new to international schools, to jump start their understanding of WIDA resources - while experienced educators can deepen their knowledge of working with EAL students. Enjoy time in beautiful Madison WI, and start the school year focused on what you and your learners can do! Register now.

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New Members

Welcome to the following schools who joined the WIDA International Schools Consortium in the past three months. We now include 320 schools in 85 different countries!

Ambrit International School . . . Rome, Italy
Al Hammad Academy . . . Al Dammam, Saudi Arabia
British International School of Jeddah . . . Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Busan Foreign School . . . Busan, Korea
Concordia International School Hanoi . . . Hanoi, Vietnam
Esol Education - Dunecrest American school . . . Dubai, UAE
Esol Education - Fairgreen International . . . Dubai, UAE
Firbank Grammar School . . . Melbourne, Australia
Gateway International School . . . Hanoi, Vietnam
GEMS Dubai American Academy . . . Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Greengates School . . . Nuacalpan de Juarez, Mexico
Haganässkolan . . . Stockholm, Sweden
Harare International School . . . Harare, Zimbabwe
Hopewell Academy . . . Cary, NC US
International School of Kigali Rwanda . . . Kigali, Rwanda
International School of Turin . . . Chieri (TO), Italy
Internationella Engelska Lund . . . Lund, Sweden
Kyiv Christian Academy . . . Kyiv, Ukraine
Marlborough College Malaysia . . . Johor, Malaysia
Nova International Schools . . . Skopje, Macedonia
Qatar Foundation - Qatar Academy Al Khor - Senior . . . Al Khor, Qatar
Qatar Foundation - Qatar Academy Doha Primary . . . Doha, Qatar
Qatar Foundation - Sidra Primary . . . Doha, Qatar
Qatar Foundation - Sidra Secondary . . . Doha, Qatar
SEK International School El Castillo . . . Madrid, Spain
Sekolah Pelita Harapan Kemang Village . . . Jakarta, Indonesia
Taipei Adventist American School . . . Taipei City, Taiwan, China
The Affiliated Foreign Language School of South China Normal University . . . Guangzhou, China
Tk Tzu Chi . . . Jakarta, Indonesia
Transformation Academy of Shanghai . . . Shanghai, China
WellSpring Learning Community . . . Beirut, Lebanon
Wesley College . . . Melbourne, Australia
Zurich International School . . . Zurich, Switzerland

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Focus School of the Month: Carol Morgan School

Adopting the WIDA Framework at Carol Morgan School

Written by Kristi Leitch, Elementary School ELL Specialist and Language Rich Environment Research and Design Team Co-Facilitator

Carol Morgan School (CMS) is a non-profit PreK-12 international school located in sunny Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We have almost 1,100 students enrolled, representing 34 different nationalities. Most of our population comes from Spanish-speaking countries, and English is their second language. When we discovered that WIDA Model was available online in 2016, our ELL department and Deputy Head of School were excited to see if the WIDA framework would be a good fit for our school. Although we had tools to measure our ELL students' language levels, we did not have effective resources to then support teachers and students in using that data to help students grow as language learners. Enter the WIDA framework.

After two of our teachers attended a WIDA Academy in Madison, Wisconsin in the summer of 2016, CMS began the rollout of the WIDA Model and framework throughout the 2016/2017 school year. Professional learning included hosting a WIDA Academy at our school, with learning support specialists, elementary homeroom, and content area classroom teachers attending. We also hosted a co-teaching workshop with internationally recognized consultant and trainer Anne Beninghof in Spring 2017. As we became familiar with the framework and co-teaching philosophy embraced by WIDA, we realized that our school needed to reimagine how the elementary school provides services for our ELL students. Our current model was a combination of pull-out and push-in with three ELL specialists for K-5, which spread our resources thin and challenged our teachers in co-planning.

This year, our team changed how we scheduled our push-in support. In our new model, half of our classroom teachers collaborate for a full learning cycle, pushing in everyday, with the other half collaborating in the following cycle through push-in. We also created and scheduled a co-planning block with each teacher before each cycle of push-ins begin. This co-planning time is important because WIDA helped us realize that one of the most important aspects of the co-teaching cycle is co-planning. During this planning time, we discuss scaffolding ideas for ELL students, as well as ensure that expressive language opportunities are being embraced. The WIDA Can-Do Descriptors and Performance Definitions are useful tools during planning time.

Through analysis of the Model results as well as the writing samples, we also chose to focus on writing, which was our ELL students' most challenging learning area. ELL specialists co-teach as much as possible during writing time helping students develop stronger academic language and sentence fluency.

CMS continues to reflect and grow as a community through the WIDA model. This model aligns with the five learning approaches of our strategic learning plan, the Shark Sphere. These approaches are supported through teacher-led research and design teams for each learning approach. WIDA has become instrumental in the Language Rich Environment (LRE) research and design team's work in defining what a language rich environment is and how teachers can ensure all students are accessing and using rich language. The WIDA Performance Definitions are guiding conversations throughout the entire school, grades PK through 12, on how we can best support our students becoming fluent, expressive academic language users. The WIDA framework has also influenced the need and allocation for staffing in the elementary school and we are excited to be adding another ELL specialist to our department next school year to support this approach. Ultimately, we anticipate that this model will evolve to an ELL specialist per grade level, co-planning, co-teaching, and co-assessing with classroom teachers to best meet the needs of all ELL students.

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WIDA International School Consortium

Is your school a member of the WIDA International School Consortium? If not, please visit our home page to learn more about membership or email store@wceps.org.