Consulting

Some rural and suburban school leaders are observing a new population of students in their schools-English Learners.  They have no or little experience creating programming and are not familiar with federal or state regulations regarding this population of linguistic minorities.

Some urban districts are noting an increase or dynamic change in their population of English learners and are seeking new ways to improve their student’s performance.

In addition, some districts are finding that they are not performing well when they are reviewed by state auditors who find that their programming is not in full compliance with the laws and regulations governing the education of English learners.

Nationally, CELE provides a range of consulting services for school leaders in 3 focus areas:

• Policies and practices
• Strategic Plans
• Response to regulatory findings

Policies and practices

Some schools, particularly in rural and suburban areas, are noting a small or low incidence of English learners.  They are not sure how to address the regulations and, more importantly, the learning needs of this small population within a whole school/district context.  Under the direction of Dr. Debbie Zacarian, an expert in federal and state policies regarding English language education, we provide support in developing and implementing instructional programming that is customized to the specific needs of students and their school. 

Other schools are noting dynamic shifts in their populations of English learners. Some of their English learners come from rich prior literacy and schooling experiences that match their district while other English learners have not had the same type of prior schooling or have had significant interruptions to their education. Still others have experienced significant trauma and violence from civil war, natural disasters, and other life impacting experiences.

Our consulting includes the writing, reviewing, implementing and on-going consulting about English language education programming including all program model types (for example: sheltered instruction, bilingual education, and dual language education).  It also includes the means for identifying English learners, assessing their progress, and creating two essential arms of programming (English as a second language and content area instruction in math, science and technology, and social studies) and family and community engagement.

CELE works closely with school leaders to create programming that is research based, known to be sound, and proven to be effective.

Strategic Planning

Many school leaders are not familiar with the best means for collecting appropriate data and making data-driven decisions for their population of English learners. In addition, they are not familiar with the means to do this within a whole school context. Whether it is to disaggregate data to understand a district’s specific population of English learners or its future trends, CELE’s consulting services includes the means for making strategic decisions and plans that are based on real data and data driven decisions.

We support school leaders in creating sustained mechanisms for collecting and analyzing student performance and school and family engagement environment data. Further, we have the capacity to provide multi-year plans so that districts can be better assured of having the most effective means for analysis and evaluation as well as being properly resourced.

Response to regulatory findings

Under federal and state regulations, districts must evidence that its programming is research based, properly resourced, and proven to be effective. Some districts are in need of improvement in any or all of these areas. CELE’s experts can greatly support districts in addressing their improvement needs and responding to regulatory findings. We have depth of experience in each of these regulatory areas as well as any regulatory changes that occur at the state and federal levels. We also have depth of experience creating and implementing the changes that are needed to be in compliance with the regulations and in writing responses to areas that have been identified, addressed and remedied.