The NCDPI Multilingual Learner (ML)/Title III Team is grateful for the different stakeholder groups that collaborate with us in our efforts to sustain statewide implementation of the ELD Standards and to coordinate efforts, resources, and professional learning to build capacity for ML student success in North Carolina. 

In this issue of the Program Quality Highlights, our readers will learn about some of the ML stakeholder groups that collaborate with the ML/Title III Team and the impact of their work. 

"Collaboration among stakeholders (e.g., district and school leaders, content and language teachers, specialists, support personnel, students, families) is essential for providing multilingual learners high-quality educational experiences that are coordinated and comprehensive" (WIDA, 2020, p. 19).

Our readers will also learn about the most recent standards-based resources uploaded to the ELD Standards Resource Hub, instructional practices to support MLs, professional learning opportunities for educators serving MLs in their classrooms, and important Title III reminders. 

^{WIDA. (2020). WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition: Kindergarten–Grade 12. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.}

ELD Standards and Resources

WIDA Conference 2022

Did you attend the WIDA Annual Conference? We were excited to see many educators from North Carolina at the event!

WIDA keynote presentations and breakout sessions offered a wealth of information to attendees. NC was well represented in the presentations! Read more about these below:

• “Re-imagining EL Policy: Panel Discussion about Identification, Monitoring, and Reclassification,” a WIDA-led Panel, included NCDPI ML/Title III Consultant, Ivanna Mann Thrower Anderson, sharing about the work in NC. This session was recorded and is available as part of the conference archives.
• “Advancing Student Language Growth Through the Proficiency Level Descriptors,” led by WIDA’s Margo Gottlieb, spotlighted two members of the NCDPI English Language Development Support Team (ELDST), Lannie Simpson and Tamara Coburn, and their work with the ELDST and in their districts, Burke County and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (See “WIDA and NC” below for more details).
• “Advancing Learning Through ELD Standards Adoption and Implementation,” the NC story, was shared by members of the NCDPI ML/Title III Team.

The 2023 WIDA Conference theme is “Adelante with a Multilingual Mindset.” It is the 10th anniversary of the conference and will be going back home to Wisconsin, October 17 - 20, in Milwaukee. If you plan to attend, consider presenting as well! The Call for Proposals opens November 14th.

^{Photo left to right: Lannie Simpson, Xatli Stox, Ivanna Mann Thrower Anderson, and Tamara Coburn.}

WIDA and NC

In February of 2022, the NCDPI ML/Title III Team was busy planning the annual Summer Conference: Growing Success for MLs. The focus was exclusively on the WIDA 2020 ELD Standards Framework in order to support the implementation of the new standards. One of the sessions, “Data and the WIDA 2020 ELD Standards Framework,” was led by ELD Support Team members Lannie Simpson (Burke) and Tamara Coburn (Winston-Salem/Forsyth), where they were tasked with developing a data-based professional development session aligned to the new standards.

Tamara shared, "We knew we needed to look at both formative data and summative data and yet align to the new ELD Standards Framework." 

After much reflection and combing through the WIDA Resource Guide, Lannie stated, "I realized how intuitive the Snapshots of Key Language Uses documents were for each grade cluster. These learning activities organized under the four Key Language Uses were typical for the grade band and readily recognizable by ELD teachers and content teachers. Thus, the idea was born of using the Snapshots as a guide for collecting a portfolio of student work across the quarters and organized by the four Key Language Uses!"

After the conference, NCDPI released the Key Language Uses for the 2020 NC ELD SCOS: Checklist for Student Portfolios, which was developed as part of the summer conference. Unknowingly, happening at the same time, Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D. (Co-Founder of WIDA and lead developer) along with her WIDA colleague, Fernanda Kray, Ph.D., were busy developing a practical application of the Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLDs). They planned to introduce a teacher-friendly example of grades 4-5 proficiency level descriptors which would provide the foundation for a portfolio guide that would collect student work that aligned to the ELD 2020 Standards. When Margo and Fernanda saw the announcement of the portfolio checklist, they were excited to add an example from the field to their work. They reached out to NCDPI and members of the ELDST to learn more and invited Lannie and Tamara to present with the WIDA leaders at the Annual WIDA Conference in early October 2022. Lannie and Tamara had the opportunity to share their work using Key Language Use Snapshots as portfolio guides for multilingual learners. 

Explore these resources at bit.ly/ELDStandardsHub under "ELD Standards-Based Resources" or by following this link: bit.ly/ELDStandardsResources. 

Lannie and Tamara are part of the ELD Support Team and are available to provide support to schools and districts looking for multilingual learner support. To learn how the ELD Support Team can support your PSU, please contact the NCDPI ML/Title III Team.

^{Photo left to right: Tamara Coburn, Margo Gottlieb, and Lannie Simpson.}

Literacy Instruction Standards (LIS)

On October 7, 2021, the North Carolina State Board of Education approved the Literacy Instruction Standards (LIS) as outlined in Section V of SB 387: Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021. The LIS serve as a framework for the development and alignment of curriculum and instruction for all public schools and are aligned to the Science of Reading. These standards are defined as a level of quality and equity to be used consistently within core literacy instruction statewide.

While the NC Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS) sets student expectations, the LIS and their associated instructional practices set expectations for teaching literacy.  The LIS are organized by grade-band and can be used to ensure that all teachers across North Carolina have a common understanding and delivery of literacy instruction.

View the LIS and their associated instructional practices below.

• Pre-K
• Grades K-2
• Grades 3-5
• Grades 6-8
• Grades 9-12

The LIS do not replace the English Language Development (ELD) Standard Course of Study (SCOS).  The ELD SCOS and Literacy Instruction Standards should be used in tandem.  Want to learn more about how to integrate the ELD SCOS and LIS? Register for the LIS Learning Series! 

To learn more about the LIS, view the DPI LIS webpage and LIS Toolkit. Questions? Contact stacy.daniel@dpi.nc.gov.

NC WIDA eLearning Club

In addition to the synchronous offerings, NCDPI is offering asynchronous and hybrid offerings to further support integration of the ELD and content area standards.

Join the NC WIDA eLearning Club meetups to discuss the WIDA eLearning Workshops and share ideas on how to implement the shared resources. These meetups highlight one the WIDA Self-Paced Workshops.

• September 20 Mathematics - archives -
• October 25, Social Studies - register -
• November 29, Science - register -
• January 31, ELA - register -

ELD Support Team Member Spotlight

Meet Christian Walter, one of the NCDPI ELD Support Team members. 

In late June 2021, Christian was appointed principal for the new Sylvia Mendez Newcomers School in High Point, North Carolina, part of the Guilford County School system. In addition to his role as principal, Christian has a long list of attributes to his name including 2021 LatinxEd Fellow and graduate of the Guilford County Schools’ GALA cohort for African American and Latinx administrators. Learn more about Christian’s story through the article: Dreaming Big for Sylvia Mendez newcomers School's First Year and his video profile produced by Carol Bono from LatinxEd.

NC Multilingual Learner Teacher Network

The NCDPI ML/Title III Team recognizes the importance of educator engagement, collaboration, and communication in order to improve and increase student achievement. The NCDPI ML/Title III Team extends a very special thank you to the NC ML Teacher Network Leadership Team members that served during the 2021-2022 cohort. This team consolidated a set of resources that are available statewide via GoOpenNC to support all teachers of MLs. We appreciate this team’s commitment and collaboration during the past year. 

Please join us giving a warm welcome to the 2022-2023 Leadership Team members. Visit the shared slide deck to learn more about this new cohort of Network Leaders!

The team will have their first face-to-face meeting of the school year as part of the Carolina TESOL Fall  Conference. They will be also sharing their experiences and expertise at the event. If you are attending, please join the sessions:

• Giving Students the World Via Live Virtual Expeditions by Mariel Gomez de La Torre C. 
• Working Collaboratively With Families and Significant Adults of ML Students by Michelle Insco & Kelly Land
• Meeting Newcomers at the Door: How to Support Newcomer Students in Their First Two Weeks of School by Angelica Shornack & Melissa Nicholson-Clark
• Expanding Educator Leadership Roles Beyond the Classroom by Jessari Alvir & Xatli Stox
• Promoting Co-Teaching Through Strategies That Hang Together: Collaboration With Content Area Teachers by Daniel Schmidt & Omar Lemus

What is NC ML Teacher Network? – A group of ML (ESL/ESOL) educators from across the state of North Carolina that gather together to share ideas, resources, and collaborate through different communication platforms.

Who should join the NC ML Teacher Network? - All educators serving multilingual learners should join the network to learn new strategies and/or develop their skill set. The Network offers the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers and reflect on best practices to serve this student population. Educators are also invited to share their strengths and expertise in the TESOL field. 

How do I join the NC ML Teacher Network? - NC Educators may use their NCEdCloud IAM Account to join the GoOpenNC Group: Together4MLs

Who is the Leadership Team? - The leadership team consists of in-service teachers from across the state working together for multilingual learners. The purpose of the network is to offer ALL teachers of MLs the opportunity to explore resources and interact with colleagues to discuss and reflect on ML education using a collaborative structure for professional growth. Learn more about the current members.

Who should I contact if I have questions? - Xatli Stox is the NCDPI ML/Title III Lead for the Network and collaborates with the Leadership Team in the development of the activities. Xatli Stox may be reached out at xatli.stox@dpi.nc.gov

Program Compliance Reminders

Timeline

Please utilize the 22-23 Multilingual Learner/Title III Timeline to ensure EL and Title III requirements are completed in a timely manner.

Monitoring Schedule

This 2021-2025 Federal Program Monitoring and Support monitoring calendar shows when all federal subgrantees will be monitored in the 4-year cycle. This is Year 2 of the monitoring cycle and this document will allow a PSU to see if they have a scheduled Year 2 monitoring visit. 

Will your PSU receive a Cross Program Monitoring in 2022-2023? If so, check out the updates to the Cross-Program Monitoring Page on the Office of Federal Program Website and explore the pre-monitoring resources.