The NAELPA membership year extends from July 1st to June 30th in the subsequent year. Our membership year started in the throes of uncertainty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Many of us hoped for a return to normalcy at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, but unfortunately, things only got worse. The pandemic has caused many disruptions that affected states, schools, and districts – and impacted NAELPA.
NAELPA responded to the pandemic quickly with a webinar on April 8, 2020, titled “Safety, Security, and Support for Teaching Multilingual Learners Online” (recording available at https://www.naelpa.org/past-webinars) and the development of a resources page on the NAELPA website that provides links to resources that help respond to remote learning caused by the pandemic (https://www.naelpa.org/resources-for-educating-els-online).
NAELPA has continued to offer webinars to its members and non-members alike. In September, NAELPA partnered with the U.S. Department of Education (USED) to offer a webinar to provide updates and address State Education Agency (SEA) directors’ questions. In November, we followed up on the SEA webinar, partnering again with USED to provide updates and address questions from Local Education Agencies (LEAs). We continue to provide quarterly webinars for both SEAs and LEAs, with our most recent webinar on February 4, 2021, presented by Esther Park titled, “Supporting Teachers to Foster Authentic Digital Interaction.”
NAELPA also responded to the pandemic by moving its 2021 NAELPA Annual National Conference to a virtual format (https://www.naelpa.org/national-meeting). It was a difficult decision not to meet face-to-face, but with travel restrictions and other concerns, we believe it was the right decision. The conference is scheduled for April 27, 2021, with three or more pre-conference sessions, one per week leading up to the day of the conference. NOTE: All NAELPA members were automatically registered for the conference. If your membership is current, you do not need to register for the conference. ALSO NOTE: If you are not a member, membership is included with conference registration if you so desire.
The U.S. Congress has responded to the pandemic by providing large sums of funding for K-12 education in three funding laws,: the CARES Act (passed March 27, 2020); the CRRSA Act (passed December 27, 2020); and the American Rescue Plan Act (passed March 11, 2021). The funds from these laws are called Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds (ESSER). Between these three laws, there was more than $189 billion designated for K-12 in ESSER funding; however, no specific guidance or requirements were included in how these funds can be used to support multilingual learners. NAELPA has responded by drafting a short paper that explains how these funds can be used to provide supports for multilingual learners
with a non-exhaustive list of examples and suggestions
(https://docs.zohopublic.com/file/53co035c835a8dbed421f86c77e94d2897a74).
We look forward to continuing to be the Voice for ELs! Please consider how you can become involved with NAELPA to help us make a difference.
Dr. David Holbrook
NAELPA Executive Director
Executive Director Newsletter Report
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