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Leave it up to our Canadian neighbors to help us figure out our text complexity and some much more.  A great foudational site.

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Willkommen/bienvenue/welcome - y ¡Hola! - to the

Good Old Review

Compleat Lexical Tutor v.8.5
For data-driven language learning on the Web

BEST SCREEN : Browser Edge/Chrome Zoom 80/90/100/110%@13/14-15/17/20"
YOUR SCREEN : Browser IP 54.204.20.250[?]

No cookies, registration, ads Best of Canada since Trivial Pursuit - Thornbury

QUICKLINKS > TOP...

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A complete website for learning about English and French words. You can test your vocabulary level, then work on the words at the level where you are weak. Use wordlists, online concordancer and dictionaries, texts, and a database to store your work and view the work of others.

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Providing audio of printed text is an EXCELLENT way to help language learners develop both their listening and reading skills (it’s what I credit for my personal language learning journey). …but, who has time to record themselves or sit one-on-one with a student!?!?  (thank you to Mrs. Billie Wallace, ESOL Coordinator at Parkview for this great find).

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ESL English Language Learning - Adult Literacy - Listening & Reading - Audiobooks - Stories

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ESL English - Adult Literacy - Listening, Reading, Audiobooks, Short Stories, Songs, PET exam

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A Stanford University Resource - I have yet to deeply explore this site, but it was introduced by ESL Standard guru as a go to site... so here it is :-)
Please share what you find.

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School districts have sought to create systemic plans for multilingual learners that move beyond compliance to insure coherence across their programs, policies and practices for their students and families. Understanding Language partners with districts to co-create, implement and refine their plans based on student evidence.

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"Newsela builds reading comprehension through leveled articles, real-time assessments and actionable insights."

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It's time to improve literacy skills during social studies instruction and ensure that readers of all abilities have what they need to access grade-level social studies concepts.

Join us on Thursday, December 7 for a look at scaffolded materials that provide extra literacy support while building key social studies concepts and skills.

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Newsela | Content and assessment platform

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Content Aligned To National & State Standard, Flexible To Support Relevant Curriculum. Find the Perfect Piece Of Content For Lessons. Go beyond the book.

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Why Gifted Latinos are Overlooked and Underserved

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Why Gifted Latinos are Overlooked and Underserved

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Three million school children in the U.S. are identified as gifted. That's roughly the top 10 percent of the nation's highest achieving students.

But Rene Islas, head of the National Association for Gifted Children, says tens of thousands of gifted English language learners are never identified. We sat down with Islas and asked him why.

He started out by explaining that there are several different measures for identifying gifted children. The most common in schools is recognizing achievement, above grade level work. But that poses a problem for English language learners, or ELLs, he says.
Is that because not being fluent in English masks their giftedness?
I can give you some personal experience about this. My mother, a single mom in Tucson, Ariz., worked hard to put me in the best school she could afford. I was labeled ELL. That meant a watered down curriculum and not being exposed to learning opportunities. It wasn't until she moved me to a more affluent, white neighborhood school that educators recognized that I had more potential than people at my previous school recognized.

Even when schools identify ELL students as gifted, y ou say the impulse is not to place them in accelerated programs, despite evidence that they benefit from more challenging work while they're learning English.

It's leaving talent on the table when you have these high performing students but you're restraining them. Gifted [ELL] students are actually harmed if they're held back. To me, the real issue is, how many geniuses are being hidden within their school system?
What about the process for identifying gifted ELLs? When schools test ELLs for giftedness, they often rely on observation and prompts consisting of symbols, manipulatives, spacial relationships and patterns. Are these non-verbal tests effective?
The assumption is that if you take away the language barrier, you can make a neutral assessment. We're finding out that's not true and this is a barrier for Spanish speaking students. The consensus out there is that you need multiple measures [verbal and non-verbal] to identify gifted students with language disadvantages.
What about IQ tests?
It's one identification model often used, even though it's difficult to measure true IQ because of language barriers.
In fact, you argue that schools' over-reliance on IQ tests is one reason gifted programs are so racially and ethnically homogeneous. The research, meanwhile, shows that all gifted kids, including ELLs, share an important trait - advanced academic ability.
Researchers have found that a gifted child often knows 60 percent or more of the curriculum that'll be presented in a full [school] year. So imagine if you knew almost two thirds of the content the first day of school.
What about children of immigrant parents who are recent arrivals or are in the U.S. illegally? If their child is gifted and bored to death in school, how likely is it that they'll demand that their child be tested or placed in a more challenging academic program?
There's fear involved when it comes to Hispanic students in particular. There's [also] a high premium on assimilating, fitting in. These are disincentives to go out and apply for a gifted and talented [program]. Our association, NAGC, is often the first stop for parents who encounter those barriers
Other than NAGC's advocacy for these students, aren't there laws that protect the rights of gifted ELL's the way the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - IDEA - protects students with learning disabilities?
Federal law does not require support for gifted students.
On a final note, under the new federal education law - Every Student Succeeds Act - states for the first time will be required to break down and disclose gifted students' achievement data. School districts will also have to show that teachers who work with gifted students are getting the training they need. It's unclear though what the consequences are if they don't.

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Why Gifted Latinos Are Often Overlooked And Underserved

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Three million school children in the U.S. are identified as gifted. That's roughly the top 10 percent of the nation's highest achieving students. But Rene Islas, head of the National Association for Gifted Children, says tens of thousands of gifted English language learners are never identified.

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Of the 3 million students identified as gifted in the U.S., English Language Learners are by far the most underrepresented. And nobody knows that better than 17-year-old Alejandra Galindo.

"It's just kind of hard to not see people who look like me in my classes," she says. "I'm a minority in the gifted world."

Alejandra is a senior at North Canyon High School in Phoenix. Before she was identified as gifted, she was identified as an English Language Learner, or ELL. You know, those kids who are often assigned to separate classrooms while they learn English. That was Alejandra.

"She would cry and not want to go to school," says her mom, Norma Galindo. "She didn't want to be Hispanic. She didn't want to speak our language."

Norma Galindo is originally from El Salvador. Her husband, Arnulfo, is from Mexico. They've always known their daughter was bright beyond her years.

"I remember Alejandra coming to me and saying, 'Mom, I'm bored at school. Classes are so easy,' " says Norma Galindo. "And I said, 'You're not supposed to be bored at school. You need to be challenged.' So I talked to her teacher and asked, 'Can you do something for her?' "

Parents are usually the first ones to figure out that their child is gifted, but that message often doesn't get to the educators in schools.

Many schools don't even test ELLs for giftedness, and most teachers aren't trained to identify those students.

It doesn't have to be that way, says Alejandra.

"I think it's just all about letting those kids know that [they] have just as much potential as any other kid," she says, "regardless of your skin color or where your parents came from or what language you speak."

Alejandra was lucky. In fourth grade, a teacher singled her out and asked that she be tested. The results showed that her verbal reasoning skills were off the charts, a sign of giftedness not just in English but Spanish as well.

"Now that I'm older," says Alejandra, "I realize that being bilingual is very, very important. That in combination with being gifted, it's like so many doors have opened."

At North Canyon High, those doors have opened wide. Alejandra has excelled in just about every college-level course she has taken. Her academic success has motivated her to fine-tune her other gift, singing. She's a section leader on the school choir.

With graduation right around the corner, Alejandra has set her sights on college and a career in international studies, maybe doing humanitarian work.

It's not clear how many Alejandras there are out there.

Arizona has identified more than 80,000 gifted students statewide, but that number is not broken down by race or ethnicity. It's also impossible to know how many gifted ELLs are never identified and tested.

Nationally, 32 states, including Arizona, mandate gifted education, according to the National Association For Gifted Children. Only four fully fund gifted programs, the organization says in this report. Few, if any, require that ELLs be tested.

That's a problem says Chester Finn, a former U.S. assistant secretary of education and author of the recent book, Failing Our Brightest Kids.

"An awful lot of Latino kids are arriving with parents who are undocumented. They really do depend on schools to help them," says Finn. "[But] we're losing talent of kids from poorly educated parents who don't know their way around the American system."

Finn says schools must do more to reach out to non-English-speaking parents, and to train teachers to be more like talent scouts. Then, he adds, schools must give gifted ELLs as much academic enrichment as they can handle.

No argument there, says Peter Laing. He oversees gifted education for Arizona's Department of Public Instruction. Arizona currently does not provide any funding for gifted education. Laing says what little money gifted kids get has to come from local school districts.

He says that, with the ELL population growing so fast in Arizona, educators and policymakers need to better serve those students, especially the brightest among them: "This is a moral, ethical obligation on the part of schools."

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Gifted, But Still Learning English, Many Bright Students Get Overlooked

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Of the 3 million students identified as gifted in the U.S., English Language Learners are by far the most underrepresented. And nobody knows that better than 17-year-old Alejandra Galindo. "It's just kind of hard to not see people who look like me in my classes," she says.

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I'm not a fan of the title, because "Tolerance" is not the same as acceptance, but this site is FULL of amazing resources.

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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) enabled millions of Black and other voters of color an opportunity to participate in our democracy. Ten years ago, on June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder significantly weakened a key provision of the landmark VRA. These LFJ articles remind us of the struggle for voting rights and education and the powerful legacy of Freedom Summer 1964. As we confront current voter suppression and education censorship, let us continue the fight for justice in today's movement.

"Following record-breaking voter turnout in the 2020 election, several state legislatures passed laws to disenfranchise voters, especially in Black communities. These attempts at voter suppression work in concert with censorship policies targeting education to further undermine civics literacy and engagement in the United States." -Freedom Schools for Today's Social Justice Movement

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Learning for Justice | Education Resources

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Learning for Justice provides free resources to educators-teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners-who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.

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All roads lead to the Padlet - Have an ESOL Question?  Go to the Padlet first (please)

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U.S. Departments of Education and Justice Release Joint Guidance to Ensure English Learner Students Have Equal Access to High-Quality Education

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The U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Justice (DOJ) today released joint guidance reminding states, school districts and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential.

"Four decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Lau v. Nichols that all students deserve equal access to a high-quality education regardless of their language background or how well they know English," said ED Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon. "Today's guidance not only reminds us of the court's ruling, but also provides useful information for schools as they work to ensure equity for students and families with limited English proficiency."

"The diversity of this nation is one of its greatest attributes," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division at DOJ. "Ensuring English learner students are supported in their education supports all of us. Today's guidance—40 years after passage of the landmark Equal Educational Opportunities Act—will help schools meet their legal obligations to ensure all students can succeed."

In addition to the guidance, the Departments also released additional tools and resources to help schools in serving English learner students and parents with limited English proficiency:

A fact sheet in English and in other languages about schools' obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students can participate meaningfully and equally in school.

A fact sheet in English and in other languages about schools' obligations under federal law to communicate information to limited English proficient parents in a language they can understand.

A toolkit to help school districts identify English learner students, prepared by the Education Department's Office of English Language Acquisition. This is the first chapter in a series of chapters to help state education agencies and school districts meet their obligations to English learner students.

This is the first time that a single piece of guidance has addressed the array of federal laws that govern schools' obligations to English learners. The guidance recognizes the recent milestone 40th anniversaries of Lau v. Nichols and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA), as well as the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The EEOA, similar to Lau, requires public schools to take appropriate action to help English learner students overcome language barriers and ensure their ability to participate equally in school.

The guidance explains schools' obligations to:

identify English learner students in a timely, valid and reliable manner;

offer all English learner students an educationally sound language assistance program;

provide qualified staff and sufficient resources for instructing English learner students;

ensure English learner students have equitable access to school programs and activities;

avoid unnecessary segregation of English learner students from other students;

monitor students' progress in learning English and doing grade-level classwork;

remedy any academic deficits English learner students incurred while in a language assistance program;

move students out of language assistance programs when they are proficient in English and monitor those students to ensure they were not prematurely removed;

evaluate the effectiveness of English learner programs; and

provide limited English proficient parents with information about school programs, services, and activities in a language they understand.

Almost 5 million students in the United States are English learners—about 9 percent of all public school students. From 2002 to 2011, the percentage of English learners in public schools increased in 40 states and the District of Columbia, and currently three out of every four public schools enroll English learner students.

The mission of the ED Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is to ensure equal access to education and promote educational excellence throughout the nation through the vigorous enforcement of civil rights. OCR is responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination by educational institutions on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, sex and age, as well as the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act of 2001. Additional information about OCR is available here and additional resources, including previous guidance released on this topic, is available here.

The enforcement of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ensure that English learner students and limited English proficient parents receive the services to which they are entitled is a top priority of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. Additional information on DOJ's efforts to provide equal educational opportunities to all students is available here.
Local superintendents weigh in on the guidance:
"It is critical that English learners are provided every opportunity to participate and excel in all of the educational opportunities offered by our schools. These guidelines clearly detail the type of support and services these students and their families need to ensure that they are able to receive the full benefits of public education. A quality educational program that adheres to these guidelines will ensure that English learners have the opportunity to become leaders and contributors in our communities." — Daniel P. King, Superintendent of Schools, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD

"More than 40 percent of our students in Denver Public Schools are English language learners, and our community's future depends in large measure on our success in providing them with the education they deserve. The guidance—which provides clarity and synthesizes ELL requirements—will be a useful resource as we continue to work to meet the needs of our English language learners." — Tom Boasberg, Superintendent of Denver Public Schools

"The San Francisco Unified School District has a longstanding history of ensuring equal access to English Learners, as well as honoring and preserving home language and culture. Our preliminary review of this new guidance is that it reflects many of SFUSD's current practices in support of English Learners. It can't be said enough though that in order to implement these and other comprehensive recommended best practices, districts require adequate and appropriate resources." — San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Richard A. Carranza

"We are pleased the department is reinforcing the importance of offering a high-quality education to English learners by providing guidance to school districts throughout the country. As educators, we have the responsibility to ensure all students have the support they need to achieve their academic potential. At AISD, we are committed to helping English learners achieve academic and linguistic proficiency through educational programs that help prepare them to graduate ready for college, career and life in a multicultural society. If we want our children to achieve their highest potential, we must build on their strengths and honor their culture and language. Complementing English with another language creates a strong educational foundation, so students may become bilingual, bi-cultural and bi-literate. Our diversity is our strength." — Dr. Paul Cruz, Austin Independent School District interim superintendent

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U.S. Departments of Education and Justice Release Joint Guidance to Ensure English Learner Students Have Equal Access to High-Quality Education

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The U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Justice (DOJ) today released joint guidance reminding states, school districts and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential. "Four decades ago, the U.S.

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Ask your ESOL Coordinator about ELLevation or if you are lucky enough to be an InClass User - access EL student data, instructional strategies, and more here.

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If you know me, you knew this would be here. :-) The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) has a branch near every LRSD secondary school (Dunbar shares a parking lot with Williams, Parkview is across the street from McMath, McClellan is around the corner (and a walk) from McClellan... I would go on, but you get the point).

Your tax dollars pay for it, they have free books, free internet, and smart people. Go. Encourage students to go...

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The Central Arkansas Library System, with its headquarters at the Little Rock Main Library, is the largest public Arkansas library system. Its fourteen libraries are located in the City of Little Rock, Pulaski County, and Perry County.

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Need ESL support NOW? Visit this site. Easy to get lost in so much high quality content, but highly recommend the Webcasts and Multimedia resources (instant PD with discussion questions and transcripts). Also, has information for parents in ELEVEN languages.

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Across the country, teachers and other educators share the exciting but sometimes difficult challenge of teaching English, literacy skills, and academic content to a growing number of English language learners (ELLs).

This is a rich section filled with strategies, ideas, recommendations, resources, videos, and news from the ELL field. Resources are organized by the topics below and additional Resources by Grade are also available in our ELL Basics section.

What You'll Find in This Section

The first year of working with ELLs can be full of challenges. Fortunately, there are a number of resources to help! Colorín Colorado has compiled this list to help new ELL teachers navigate their experiences in the classroom. These resources may also be helpful for veteran teachers who are new to teaching ELLs.

How can we help English language learners successfully meet the Common Core State Standards? This resource section offers ideas and materials including classroom videos, teacher interviews, and bilingual parent tips.

Resource Library

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Across the country, teachers and other educators share the exciting but sometimes difficult challenge of teaching English, literacy skills, and academic content to a growing number of English language learners (ELLs). This is a rich section filled with strategies, ideas, recommendations, resources, videos, and news from the ELL field.

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FREE!!!! Strategies, tools, and text for struggling readers. Did I mention? It is FREE (and GOOD).

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English Learners & Literacy " TextProject

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Learning to read and write in English, while simultaneously becoming facile with spoken English, is a challenge for the many English Learners in American schools. For English Learners, intentional instruction and expposure to vocabulary are especially critical. TextProject has numerous resources to support educators ensure that English Learners get the solid foundation that they need to become highly literate.

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Thanks, New York! When learning a new language, using the language you already know is a great scaffold (SIOP - Feature 19). Use these glossaries to help yourself, your students, and their parents).

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My sleuth powers fail me, sorta. I need your help. There are MANY more bilingual glossaries, but I can't figure out the direct link to the page. :-(

If you visit this webpage (http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/) and type "Glossary" in the search box you will get PDF links to a bazillion (ok, a lot) of ready to use content glossaries. If you can figure out the direct link please contact me at lupe.pena@lrsd.org. Thanks!

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NYU Steinhardt Ranked #6 Graduate School for Education by U.S. News and World Report Explore Our Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Programs Skirball Talks: Food Studies Innovator Marion Nestle in Conversation Quick Links Future Undergraduates Future Grad Students Current St