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On Our Radar
There are a few changes to note:
1. TELPAS speaking/listening can be used for end of year (exiting/reclassification) purposes.
2. TELPAS writing can be used with grade 1 students.
3. The 2004 editions of IPT tests are no longer included.
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The 2012 - 2013 ELL / Migrant TETN schedule is also available on the All Things LPAC website. First session is August 9.
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At All Things LPAC, we sort through hundreds of articles, stories, and research briefs a week. Not all can make it into the monthly newsletter, but we do post the best ones on our Facebook page. Please join us there to stay informed and inspired, or to pick up great teaching tips and resources 
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Upcoming Events
Gulf Coast Job Fair Meet-n-Greet. Focus will be on high-need certification areas. Tuesday, June 12. Campbell Center in Aldine ISD. More info
2012 Title III Symposium: Ensuring the Success of Our ELLs. July 30 - 31 at the Austin Convention Center. $150.00. More info and registration at www.esc2.net.
Newport Beach, CA June 27 - 30, 2012 St.Paul, Minnesota October 18-20, 2012 If you'd like your event listed on All Things LPAC's calendar, please contact us. |
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Current & Connected
The All Things LPAC Newsletter
Issue 26, June 2012
Current & Connected goes on vacation for the month of July, but we'll be back in action at the beginning of August, bringing you all the news and information you need to stay up-to-date and in the loop! |
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Study: Teachers Judge Work by Minority Students Less Critically
 A new study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology finds that teachers may be less inclined to respond critically to work by minority students, thus creating a "positive feedback bias" that may contribute to racial achievement gaps.
The study, covered in The Atlantic and The Huffington Post, asked more than 100 teachers in the New York City area to grade a poorly written (but fake) student essay. The researchers found that teachers who thought the essay was written by a black or Latino student (by virtue of the student name provided) tended to offer more praise and less criticism in their responses.
The researchers believe the teachers were overcompensating in their positive feedback in order to avoid the appearance of bias.
Read the Teaching Now blog post... |
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Preschool Provides Major Advantages for ELLs, Study Says
Four-year-old children with parents who speak little to no English reap important benefits by participating in one year of center-based care-such as Head Start or state preschool-before starting kindergarten, a new study from the Public Policy Institute of California concludes.
Specifically, these so-called "linguistically isolated" children, who have virtually no exposure to the English language in their home and neighborhood environments, demonstrate much stronger early-reading skills than their peers who do not attend a center-based preschool program prior to starting kindergarten, the study concludes. The vast majority of these children, both in California and nationally, are Latino. The researchers did not find the same improvements for children's math skills, which "suggests that center-based programs serving linguistically isolated children are missing the opportunity to promote readiness in mathematics," according to the study's summary.
Learn more at Learning the Language... |
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EL Teachers Explain How Their Backgrounds Influences Their Career Choices
 Maricela Politte grew up in a bilingual home in Texas, with a mother who spoke Spanish and a father who spoke English and Spanish.
Her mother encouraged her to stay bilingual. She minored in Spanish to learn more about the culture and become more fluent in the language.
Politte tries to practice her Spanish to maintain it, which she said her job as an English Language Learners teacher helps. She said she feels "lucky and blessed" to have opportunities to translate and help others.
Read more... |
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Born in the USA, and with the Latino Accent to Prove it
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Allison Ramírez was born in Miami, and so was her accent. Though she always tells people she's American they refuse to accept that as an answer to the question "Where are you from?"
"I've been here my whole life and I speak English better than Spanish," said Ramírez, who is currently in graduate school in Savannah, Georgia and whose mother is Cuban and father is Colombian. "It's like you can't be from [the U.S.] if you have dark hair and dark eyes and you don't sound like everyone else."
Like Ramírez, American-born residents who live in longstanding Hispanic communities in areas such as Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and cities throughout Texas and the southwest are rarely allowed to say they are American without also explaining that their ancestors were born in Latin America. Though many rarely speak Spanish as their primary language, their English is infused with the sounds, rhythms and grammar structure of Spanish.
The resulting English dialect, recognizable by the accent, can carry stigma outside of these Hispanic enclaves. Mainstream America has mistaken these accents for being a sign of recent immigration and the grammar as an indication of a poor command of English. Linguists disagree and are hoping that a current groundbreaking study in North Carolina may help break some of these associations.
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Great Online Resources for ELs and Teachers
The Internet is exploding with innovative and fun resources for EL students and teachers! For some time now we have been collecting and testing sites we think would be great for the EL community and in the coming months we'll be organizing them and adding them to the All Things LPAC site in a way that will be easy for you to find exactly what you're looking for. Many are already posted on our Resources page and we frequently post them on our Facebook page.
Here are some of our current favorites:
Road to Grammar - A terrific and free site offering tons of grammar games, quizzes, lessons, and downloads for teachers and students. Students get instant feedback as to why an answer is right or wrong as well as extra explanations for those who are deeply curious.There's also a Road to Grammar Jr. for the elementary set.Like: the plethora of content, fun games, no registration. Dislike: The Notes (explanations) are a bit dry and probably inaccessible to younger kids and lower proficiency students.
 Learn English Teens- A very good site for older ELs. Includes fun stuff like "add a caption" to cute/provocative photos, video clips of interesting and current events with brief comprehension/ critical thinking skills, sushi spell game, grammar exercises in the form of animated video vignettes, and a lot more. Like: so much quality, interesting content. Easy to navigate. Requires no registration. Dislike: British accent may be difficult for some kids. Some content may be unfamiliar to those getting used to an American culture.
Five Card flickr - This free tool lets students choose five photos from predetermined pool of really interesting/stimulating pictures and write a story about them. Students can also view;/rewrite stories written by others. Stories are saved and given a full URL for viewing and sharing. Like: No registration required. The simplicity of this tool makes is very versatile and scalable for all proficiency levels. Dislike: Some of the images are less than inspirational. I think kids, especially younger kids, would respond better to wackier pictures. |
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Researchers Call Attention to the Educational 'State of Crisis' Facing Latino Males
Increasing the number of Latinos earning bachelor's degrees is a pressing national issue. But within the group, it is Hispanic men who are the least likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college, and graduate from college.
A group based at the University of Texas at Austin called Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success) is trying to bring attention to the plight of these young men.
A new policy brief on the topic written by two of the group's co-directors, education professors Victor Sáenz of the University of Texas and Luis Ponjuan of the University of Florida, was released recently by Perspectivas, Issues in Higher Education Policy and Practice.
The brief notes that in 2010, among 18 to 24-year-old Latino males, about 34.2 percent of Latino males had not completed high school or earned GEDs, compared with 27.1 percent of Latina females. According to 2010 Census data cited in the brief, about 38.4 percent of Latinos earning bachelor's or associate degrees in 2009 were men.
Check out Latino Ed Beat for more on this story... |
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