WestEd experts from Quality Teaching for English Learners and the National Research & Development Center to Improve Education for Secondary English Learners will present at the 54th Annual National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Conference this February 19–22, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, Georgia.
This year’s conference theme is Multilingualism for a United Global Society.
WestEd and co-presenters from the United States Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, Hawai’i Department of Education, Clark County School District, and The School District of Philadelphia, will be presenting on a range of topics including
- District-Wide Support of Newcomers
- Systemic Leadership
- Bilingualism As an Asset
- The Importance of Teacher Expertise
- Amplifying Opportunities for Multilingual Learners
- Pedagogical Approach for English Learners and Their Teachers
- Formative Assessment
- Quality Oral Interactions
- Amplifying Existing English Language Arts (ELA) Curriculum
See our presentations below and stop by the WestEd exhibit booth #205 to learn more!
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WestEd Sessions
Thursday, February 20
Session: Harnessing the Assets of Young English Learners in PK–2
Presenters: Annette Gregg (WestEd)
Time: 8:30–9:50am
Location: Embassy A
Young English Learners are incredibly capable, curious, and collaborative by nature. Their learning opportunities must reflect and value these characteristics and challenge the notion that educators must wait for a prerequisite level of knowledge and language development before engaging all students in academically rich learning experiences. This session provides evidenced-based, practical ideas to support young English Learners that have a solid theoretical foundation in sociocultural learning theory and can be immediately used in the classroom.
Session: Engaging District-Wide Support of Newcomers through Curriculum Collaboration: The Case of Clark County School District
Presenters: Pia Castilleja (WestEd) and Lee Hartman (WestEd)
Time: 8:30–9:50am
Location: Embassy C
This hands-on workshop showcases what is possible when partnerships create coherent conditions within multiple systems in a district to support Newcomers and their teachers. Through discussion, examples of powerful pedagogy, and analysis of case studies, participants will learn about and experience the power of collaboration in supporting students lead by educators in distinct roles in a district that took on the task of transforming the quality of education and resources offered to their Newcomer students.
Session: Leveraging a Superpower: Focusing on Bilingualism as an Asset
Presenters: Jennifer Blitz (WestEd), Kate Wright (WestEd), Melissa Castillo (United States Department of Education), Montserrat Garibay (Office of English Language Acquisition), and Beatriz Ceja-Williams (Office of English Language Acquisition)
Time: 1:20–2:10pm
Location: Kennesaw
Bilingualism is an educational and economic imperative for student success and global competitiveness. As such, we must promote effective bilingual educational opportunities that support students learning English and provide every student with a pathway to multilingualism. During this session, presenters will share how they collaborated with state and local education agencies nationwide to better understand high-quality DLI programs. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the evidence-based policies, programs, and practices implemented in these states and districts and the processes they utilized to implement them. Participants will also explore resources they can use when developing, sustaining, and scaling DLI programs in their contexts.
Session: Changing Mindsets, Changing Approach: The Importance of Teacher Expertise
Presenters: Annette Gregg (WestEd)
Time: 1:20–2:10pm
Location: Kennesaw
Teachers are the most important factor in a student’s educational experience. Their values, theories, and knowledge deeply influence the learning opportunities they design for their students. Ensuring all teachers have the time, support, and resources to continue to grow and learn in their professional capacity is essential for all students have the best education possible. All teachers must understand, and lean into, their role as teachers of language, regardless of their grade level or content area of expertise so English Learners can thrive. This session will consider the importance of developing teacher expertise to change the educational experiences of English Learners.
Session: Beyond Vocabulary: Amplifying Opportunities for Multilingual Learners to Critically Engage with Poetry
Presenters: Mary Schmida (WestEd)
Time: 3:20–4:40pm
Location: Embassy F
Many poetry lessons begin with activities that focus on vocabulary. However, this word-level emphasis does not prepare students to engage with this complex genre. In this presentation, Mary Schmida will argue that for multilingual students to critically read poetry they first need: 1) to build their background knowledge about the author, time period, and context of the text and, 2) support in making personal connections to the themes presented in the poems they are going to read. Concrete examples of activities, tasks, and prompts that amplify opportunities for multilingual learners to engage in poetry in powerful ways will be offered.
Friday, February 21
Session: Systemic Leadership for the Education of English Learners
Presenters: Annette Gregg (WestEd), Sheli Suzuki (Hawai’i Department of Education), and Linell Dilwith (Hawai’i Department of Education)
Time: 1:20–2:10pm
Location: Kennesaw
Systemic reform is a critical part of shifting the current trajectory for English Learners in our country. While classroom, school, district, and state policies and programs must be carefully considered and refined to best support the needs of all learners, it is equally important that leaders across the system work together to build and enact a common vision for success. This session will explore how the state of Hawai’i has invested in a multi-year, systemic approach to enhance leadership practices at all levels of as well as the system to change outcomes for English and Multilingual Learners.
Session: From theory to practice: Enacting a Powerful Pedagogical Approach for English Learners and Their Teachers
Presenters: Pia Castilleja (WestEd), Amelia Schunder (The School District of Philadelphia), Donna Sharer (The School District of Philadelphia), Christina Kelly (The School District of Philadelphia), and Maria Minaya (The School District of Philadelphia)
Time: 1:20–2:10pm
Location: Embassy A
This hands-on workshop will offer participants the opportunity to learn about and experience sociocultural pedagogy in action for English Learners and the teachers responsible for their success. Led by Math, ELA, and Social Studies educators from a large urban school district in the Northeast, participants will engage in secondary learning experiences that illustrate the power of this pedagogical approach for English Learners. Though videos, participants will inquire into the power of a coherent pedagogical perspective for educators guided by practitioners engaged in a multi-year professional-learning partnership aimed at supporting the growth of teacher expertise to create powerful learning experiences for English Learners.
Session: Accelerating English Learner Success with Formative Assessment
Presenters: Jennifer Blitz (WestEd), Barbara Jones (WestEd), and Melissa Castillo (United States Department of Education)
Time: 2:20–3:10pm
Location: Spring
Quality education for English learners requires attention to their position as language learners, their promise as learners of academic content, and their inclusion as members of the larger academic community. In practice, this means supporting them to develop their English proficiency while simultaneously ensuring that they participate equitably in rigorous content learning. In this session, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how educators and students can leverage formative assessment as an important strategy for helping English learners attain academic content and language proficiency goals and reach their full potential as learners and members of a diverse academic community.
Session: Promoting Multilingualism Through Quality Oral Interactions
Presenters: Jennifer Blitz
Time: 3:50–4:40pm
Location: Spring
Engaging in quality oral interactions supports language development, academic achievement, an increased sense of well-being, and, ultimately, greater access to higher education, employment, and civic engagement, all of which work toward increased social equity. Session participants will gain a better understanding of what quality oral interactions are, why they are essential for language and content development, and what they look like in practice. Participants will engage in collaborative opportunities to review examples and non-examples of quality oral interactions and discuss shifts in practice that can increase the quality of oral language development opportunities for students.
Session: Enticement, Quality, and Coherence: Amplifying Existing ELA Curriculum into Critical, Dialogic, Generative Pedagogical Materials
Presenters: Mary Schmida (WestEd), Aída Walqui (WestEd), and Lee Hartman (WestEd)
Time: 4:20–2:40pm
Location: Embassy F
For many educators of multilingual learners, the materials they use do not engage their students in the ways in which they know they need to be to have powerful, generative learning opportunities. This session illustrates how to take existing ELA curriculum and amplify it so that all students—especially multilingual learners—are not only engaged, but are also afforded consistent and frequent opportunities to have collaborative, critical conversations with peers that serve to deepen their understanding of complex texts and disciplinary concepts.
Session: Using Cases in the Development of Teachers to Accomplish Quality and Equity for Multilingual Learners
Presenters: Aída Walqui (WestEd), Lee Hartman (WestEd), and Mary Schmida (WestEd)
Time: 3:20–4:40pm
Location: Embassy F
One of the most complex aspects in teacher education and professional development is breaching the gap between pedagogical principles and theory, and what happens when teachers try to implement proposed practices. Building on decades of case-based learning, this presentation proposes that cases which have been written based on the study of real teaching events, can serve to raise the expertise of teachers of Multilingual Learners. We will share cases illustrating the need to leverage bilingualism as an asset and quality and equitable pedagogy.
Meet WestEd Presenters During Conference Exhibit Hours
- Wednesday, February 19 from 5pm to 7pm (Exhibitor Reception)
- Thursday, February 20 from 7am to 5pm (Resource Hall Open)
- Thursday, February 20 from 7am to 8am (Breakfast with the Exhibitors)
- Thursday, February 20 from 9:50am to 10:20am (Dedicated Time with Resource Providers)
- Thursday, February 20 from 2:40pm to 3:40pm (Coffee Break)
- Friday, February 21 from 7am to 5pm (Resource Hall Open)
- Friday, February 21 from 7am to 8am (Breakfast with the Exhibitors)
- Friday, February 21 from 9:50am to 10:20am (Dedicated Time with Resource Providers
- Friday, February 21 from 2:40pm to 3:40pm (Coffee Break)