SPI meets with Mexican education leaders
Last month , Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson met with leaders of Baja California ’ s education system , including Miguel Ángel Mendoza González , the secretary of education for the state of Baja California , and visited schools in Tijuana .
Officials from both nations are exploring practical ways to better serve these shared students by making it easier to share student records , encouraging more teachers in both nations to be trained in bilingual teaching , and expanding teacher exchanges between Mexico and California to promote bilingual education .
“ It is so important at this time to let the people of Baja California and Mexico know that we are extending the hand of friendship ,” Torlakson said . “ By working together , we can improve the education of students who formerly attended schools in California and may eventually return to California . We can also help meet the needs of Mexican-born children attending school in California ,” he said . “ We are a strong
CTC
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general education candidates in fall of 2017 . Induction programs approved to clear the Education Specialist Credential will implement the program standards for education specialist candidates no later than fall of 2018 .
The CTC , through the adoption of the new standards , established the policy that a teacher earning a teaching credential should only need to complete one induction experience . However , regulations need to be promulgated in order to codify the ability for the CTC to grant a clear credential or a subsequent credential to anyone who already holds a clear credential in one area and completes a preliminary preparation program in another credential area .
The commission approved a staff recommendation to amend Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations pertaining to clear teaching credentials and teacher induction programs . A public hearing will team together . Somos un equipo fuerte .”
An estimated 50,000 U . S . -born students are attending school in Baja California . Many are from California . These students returned with their families for a variety of reasons , including economic , family ,
“ We are a strong team together . and , in some cases , deportation .
Somos un equipo fuerte .”
When the students enroll in Mexican schools , they are often disoriented . Many of these
Tom Torlakson SPI students are not fluent in Spanish and not familiar with the Mexican culture .
The number of these students could
be scheduled following the required 45-day response period .
Pupil personnel standards
Current Pupil Personnel Services Credential Program Standards include 16 standards that apply across three specialization programs : counseling , psychology and social work . In addition , each specialization area includes additional standards specific to that specialization . Over the past two decades the responsibilities and expectations have increased , thereby necessitating the need to update standards .
To address these challenges , the CTC authorized and staff convened the PPS Credential Program Standards Work Group . This group was charged with the following tasks :
• Identify the knowledge , skills and abilities needed by individuals seeking a PPS credential that will then become the PPS Performance Expectations .
• Recommend expectations for fieldwork as part of the preparation for each of the
increase . Under President Trump , deportation orders increased 31 percent from Feb . 1 , 2017 through July 31 , 2017 , according to the U . S . Department of Justice .
California has an estimated 300,000 students who are undocumented , while another 1 million students live with one parent or guardian who is undocumented .
To ease their fears and anxieties , Torlakson has been a champion of the “ Safe Haven ” movement , designed to reassure students and parents that they are welcome at school , regardless of immigration status , and to inform them that the law does not allow schools to divulge student immigration status , except under limited circumstances .
Torlakson wants to expand the California Department of Education teacher exchange program , which places Spanish-speaking teachers from Mexico and other nations in California public school classrooms . Demand for bilingual instruction is projected to increase because California voters last year approved Proposition 58 , which removed outdated barriers to bilingual and multilingual instruction .
Torlakson toured two schools in Tijuana and met with teachers , students , and administrators . The visit was a follow-up to his meeting in early 2017 with education leaders in Mexico City .
specialty areas .
Although group members did not come to consensus on any specific recommendations they did identify a number of topics to consider , including but not limited to :
• Reduce redundancy ;
• Update language within the standards ;
• Update the standards to reflect issues of leadership , social justice , child development and technology ;
• Integrate content related to English learners ;
• Identify candidate competencies with the intent of developing a related set of Professional Performance Expectations ;
• Determine whether child welfare and attendance might be incorporated into each of the three other credential programs ; and
• Ensure the PPS program standards closely align to national standards and competencies .
The work group will continue to address the aforementioned topics with a report to be submitted to the CTC at a future meeting .
January 15 , 2018 EDCAL 3
ACSA is hosting a Professional Learning Network through a grant funded by the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence , consisting of four district teams from Lynwood USD , Murrieta USD , Victor Valley UHSD and Anaheim ESD . The PLN focuses on increasing the capacity of school administrators , along with other stakeholders , to close equity gaps .
This is achieved by leveraging the LCAP process , network development , improvement science and the cultural proficiency framework . Each LEA team previously participated in an ACSA Equity Institute and developed a district Equity Action Plan to guide their work . Additionally , using the data dashboard to identify a focus , each district ’ s Equity Action Plan – and its implementation – is directly connected to and supports their LCAP and one of the California LCFF priorities . Therefore , this work helps to provide an equity lens to the LCAP planning and implementation process .
However , designing and implementing these plans can prove challenging . The team must develop and apply an equity lens to their work , and it can be difficult to develop the resources ( human , time , informational , and otherwise ) and capacity necessary for implementation and measurement .
The ACSA PLN is designed to meet this need . We create the time and process to develop , improve , implement and make connections between their equity plans and LCAPs ; we are building content knowledge in order to develop and strengthen participants ’ equity lens as they engage in this work ; and we build the capacity of our LEAs to continue this work beyond the PLN .
ROADMAP
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Then , in 1987 , Proposition 227 increasingly narrowed the focus of “ language ” to almost three decades of an “ English only ” movement . The 1990s ended “ A Contract With America ” and added almost two decades of No Child Left Behind , which narrowed “ language ” from English and literacy to reading , to discrete foundational skills of reading – a prescriptive phonics movement for all students .
This is the historical context on how English learners ’ “ national origin ,” a civil right to build culture and language , was narrowed through policies we were required to implement systemically . The English Learner Roadmap policy is now opening a new era , a new decade of work that acknowledges “ cultures +” and “ languages +” as assets for English learner students who come from various national origins .
A new map
How does this new policy provide a new road for the future of education ? It begins with vision from the new English Learner Roadmap policy requiring that “ English learners fully and meaningfully access and participate in a 21st century education from early childhood through grade 12 that results in their attaining high levels of English proficiency , mastery of grade level standards , and opportunities to develop proficiency in multiple languages .”
The mission of this policy is that “ California schools affirm , welcome and respond to a diverse range of EL strengths , needs and identities . California schools prepare
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graduates with the linguistic , academic and social skills and competencies they require for college , career and civic participation in a global , diverse and multilingual world , thus ensuring a thriving future for California .”
The English Learner Roadmap provides four principles intended to guide all levels of an LEA ’ s systems toward a coherent and aligned set of practices , services , relationships and approaches to teaching and learning that together create a powerful , effective , 21st century education . They are :
• Assets-Oriented and Needs- Responsive Schools : All ELs have assets in culture and language , so let ’ s respond to meet these needs with a “ growth mindset ” vs . a “ fixed ” mindset .
• Intellectual Quality of Instruction and Meaningful Access : Have “ high expectations ” and know how to “ scaffold ” learning and make it meaningful to the language and experiences students have , then build on that to take them to higher levels and outcomes in learning .
• System Conditions to Support Effectiveness : Build leadership and capacity through effective systems that meet and support high rigor , relevance and engagement in learning outcomes .
• Alignment and Articulation within and across Systems : Align and articulate curriculum that builds 21st century skills for college and career readiness , which includes growing “ responsible citizens .”
Guidance documents
These principles , and its elements , are research- and values-based , and build upon the California ELA / ELD Framework , Blueprint for Great Schools 1.0 and 2.0 ,
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and other state policies . The EL Roadmap guidance documents include rubrics and cross-walk tools that can help us align LCAPs to best practices , and help us meet the state priorities and the measures we will be using to report our LEA ’ s “ status ” and “ change ” progress in LCAP goals and activities that we locally develop and implement . It will be our fiduciary duty as school leaders to be clear on how we are spending Supplemental and Concentrated funding to provide “ increased ” or “ improved ” services for unduplicated students that are socio-economically disadvantaged , English language learners , homeless or foster youth .
Therefore , it is imperative that county and district superintendents , school site administrators and school board members have a clear understanding of how the new EL Roadmap lays policy for us to work toward this will include a new mindset of outcomes and accountability that provide for equitable and socially just outcomes that will meet the diverse needs of English Learners , while taking into account “ national origin : culture and language .”
The California Association of Bilingual Education will be having its annual conference in Sacramento . They are offering a free oneday registration for superintendents , assistant superintendents and school board members to attend on March 30 . There will be a special symposium on the English Learner Roadmap , where Laurie Olsen , a key author and researcher of the EL Roadmap Policy , will present a closer look at this policy and what it means to you and your LEA . Invitees can register and submit applications by going to the following link : https :// goo . gl / uMHtR4 .
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ACSA ’ s research team closely follows the PLN participants on the progress made through their Equity Action Plan project , as well as their capacity to lead for equity and change . We do this through various research methods to collect both qualitative and quantitative data about participants ‘ experience and growth as educational leaders .
Although the data is still being collected and analyzed , there is evidence of progress . Through meaningful collaboration , participants have gained access to research and content in which they may have never encountered . This opportunity for participants to network across districts combats the isolation that school leaders often feel when engaging in this challenging equity work . It also provides the unique and necessary time and safe space for leaders to dedicate to the movement of their equity plans in collaboration with colleagues . And , the network provides a built-in accountability tool that encourages leaders to move toward deeper revision and implementation of their plans .
The research team will complete a final product that will include the development and publishing of the “ ACSA Blueprint for Equity Leadership ,” highlighting the work of PLN participants ’ journey as equity leaders in response to their experience in the Equity Institute model .
– Shayna Sullivan Langhorne , ACSA
Research Team Lead
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