February 2025
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 Welcome to our brand-new monthly
Dual Language Newsletter!
We are thrilled to connect with Dual Language educators across the state and build a vibrant community committed to advancing bilingual education. Together, we aim to share best practices, celebrate successes, and provide valuable professional learning opportunities for all.
Dual Language Leaders: Please share this newsletter with your Dual Language Teachers and staff!
Did you know that in Washington state we have:
153 schools with Dual Language Programs
100 schools with Heritage Language Programs
43 schools with Tribal Language Programs
For more information on programs in our state, see the Washington State Report Card. Scroll down and click on Dual Language Programs on the left-hand navigation bar, then scroll back up and click on the Dual, Heritage, or Tribal Language tabs.
Arabic program is the first of its kind in Washington
As Bellevue School District sought to expand its language programs, Arabic emerged as a top request from families. Here’s a look at how 75 students, including non-native speakers, are learning Arabic each day at the only public elementary school in the state to teach the language. Links for program information and the school, Ardmore Elementary.
Superintendent Reykdal Releases Guidance for Schools on Protections for Immigrant Students
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OLYMPIA—January 23, 2025—Public schools have a constitutional and moral duty to provide a free, high-quality education to all students within their district, regardless of race, color, national origin, or immigration status. In response to ongoing federal discussions, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Washington released guidance on protecting immigrant students in K-12 schools. The guidance outlines requirements for student privacy, access to educational services, and immigration enforcement on campuses.
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal emphasized Washington’s commitment to supporting all students and their families, particularly amidst recent federal actions, including President Trump’s executive orders on immigration and birthright citizenship. Washington, along with over 20 other states, has sued to challenge the legality of these orders.
OSPI is investigating reports of schools being used for immigration enforcement, a practice that has been prohibited in sensitive areas like schools for over a decade. While President Trump’s orders revoked this federal protection, Washington’s Attorney General’s guidance ensures that schools cannot share student information with immigration authorities.
Reykdal reaffirmed that Washington will do everything possible to protect students, regardless of citizenship, and uphold the state’s values of inclusion and diversity in schools.
For More Information
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Translanguaging
Translanguaging is a theory that argues that multilingual people have one unified language repertoire they draw on strategically for communication and sensemaking (Li, 2018). It provides an avenue for intentionally planning a translanguaging pedagogy that supports multilingual students' teaching and learning more holistically and across languages.
WHY: We utilize this theory because it describes how students use their language skills naturally and fluidly in their daily lives.
HOW: We intentionally design lessons that incorporate translanguaging practices to support students in a more holistic way across languages, enabling them to demonstrate their content knowledge effectively.
WHAT: What can translanguaging look like in Dual Language classrooms? Here are a few examples.
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Elementary classroom: In a science unit about volcanoes (lang of instruction: English) When eliciting a question about a volcano, the teacher writes the question in both program languages. Students discuss their answers using both languages. Then, they answer write answers to questions in English.
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Middle School classroom: In a WA State History class, students read a primary document in English, then using either English or program language, discuss what they read with a partner. Last the students write a summary of the document in the Program language, not English.
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High School classroom: In a Translation and Interpretation CTE class, students create a list of words that do not have a literal translation between English and the program language. They discuss and analyze ways to convey the meaning using other words.
More Resources:
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Escribo en Español: Concurso literario - dibujo, prosa o poesía
¡El Centro Español de Recursos de Seattle, tiene el placer de anunciar la 27 edición del concurso literario: "Escribo en Español" para escuelas del estado de Washington y os animamos a participar en él!
La convocatoria consta de tres categorías: dibujo, prosa y poesía y los ganadores recibirán premios educativos y matrículas gratuitas para las convocatorias de pruebas de español del Instituto Cervantes de España.
Información: Bases del concurso en PDF y la página web
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Clock hours are available for participants of these PLCs, sign up below.
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PLC for ELEMENTARY DL Leaders: This group meets monthly to focus on best practices for Elementary DL program implementation.
- TIME: 12:00-1:00pm on the first Tuesday of each month.
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PLC for SECONDARY DL Leaders: This group meets monthly to focus on best practices for Secondary DL program implementation.
- TIME: 12:00-1:00 on the second Tuesday of each month.
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Drop-in Office hours for DL: Join us to ask your Dual Language questions!
- TIME: 12:00-1:00pm on the 3rd/4th Tuesday of each month.
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Español DL Teacher Leaders PLC: These monthly virtual meetings are held in Spanish for school staff teaching in Spanish. We’ll focus on instructional practices and how to plan with WIDA Marco DALE.
- TIME: 3:30-4:30 on 3rd Tuesdays of each month.
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OSPI takes an asset-based approach to highlight the work of districts that are willing to share their experiences and successes with Dual Language education by opening their doors to others.
So far this school year, we have had the privilege of visiting the following dual language programs:
Selah: Selah has an 80/20 Spanish DL program from Pre-K to 8th+ grade. They are developing options for students at the high school and also have heritage Spanish classes at the middle school level.
Kennewick: Kennewick has a 50/50 Spanish DL program from Pre-K-8th. They are creating opportunities for Heritage Spanish at the middle and high school level in the future.
Franklin-Pierce: Franklin Pierce has a 90/10 Spanish DL program from K-12th grade as well as Heritage Spanish at the middle school level.
Seattle School District: Dual language was designed in SPS based on an international education language enrichment model, not a Multilingual Learner Service model. They are currently in the process of shifting this design. Program models today are two-way, 50/50 for Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese.
UPCOMING
DUAL LANGUAGE SCHOOL VISIT OPPORTUNITIES
Join us for free Dual Language School Visits! Space is limited so we ask districts to limit their participants to no more than 8 people.
Thursday, February 27 – Evergreen School District - Click here to register!
Friday, March 14 – Walla Walla School District
Thursday, April 24 – Mount Vernon School District
Thursday, May 1 – Bellevue School District (preceding WABE conference)
Thursday, May 22 – Highline School District
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IN-PERSON Marco DALE Workshop
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This one-day, bilingual in Spanish and English, workshop will serve as an introduction to Marco de los estándares del desarrollo auténtico del lenguaje español de WIDA (Marco DALE).
DATE: February 25, 2025
TIME: 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
LOCATION: Embassy Suites by Hilton, Seattle Tacoma International Airport
COST: $450 Click here to register.
WIDA Self-Paced Workshops
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WIDA Español: Desarollando el español: las expectativas del lenguaje Click here to register & get clock hours!
- This self-paced workshop offers K-12 bilingual educators an opportunity to engage in a deeper examination of the Marco DALE with a focus on Language Expectations, functions, and features through the analysis of mentor texts.
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WIDA Español: Evaluaciones del desarrollo del lenguaje a nivel de salón: Click here to register & get clock hours! K-12 educators or teams will strengthen their skills in:
- Articulate the value of classroom assessment for language development in bilingual contexts.
- Apply the example micro-tools and multimodal resources created and curated by WIDA Español.
- Customize assessment tools and resources to fit their context.
Marco DALE Survey from WIDA
WIDA is interested in understanding your insights and perspectives about Marco DALE, the Spanish Language Development (SLD) Framework.
Use this QR Code to complete the survey. →
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These professional learning opportunities are shared for your information but do not constitute an endorsement by OSPI of any specific organizations.
Showcase at Selah Middle School
Selah Middle School has been implementing PLTW (Project Lead the Way) Gateway with Spanish Dual Language students for three years and achieving outstanding results.
You're invited to join them at Selah Middle School to see how PLTW is being used with Dual-Language Middle School students. It's been so successful that they're now using PLTW Gateway in all science classes. Click here to read flyer.
This showcase is an opportunity for you to see first-hand the incredible work that their students are doing in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. See details and registration below.
Also, here is the link to the PLTW grant currently available for schools to start their own program. All K-8 curriculum is available in English and Spanish. The grant supports the school’s annual Participation fee and Teacher Professional Development. PLTW Grant
Date & Time: February 5, 2025, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Location: Selah Middle School: 411 North 1st Street, Selah, Washington, 98942
REGISTER HERE!
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WABE Annual Conference
Save the date for the 2025 WABE Annual Conference in Bellevue, WA! Featured Speakers will be Dr. José Medina and Jo Napolitano. Dr. Medina’s pre-conference session is limited to 100 participants, so register early to secure a spot!
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Cursos de verano en universidades españolas Summer university courses in Spain
The Ministry of Education of Spain in the United States, in collaboration with prestigious Spanish universities in a variety of locations, presents language and culture summer courses and master's programs. Use the QR Code to find out more.
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 Kristin Percy Calaff, Ph.D. – Executive Director of Multilingual & Migrant Education | 564-999-3144
Katie Sperling– Supporting DL & ML in ESD 101 & 171 | Multilingual Education Program Supervisor | 360 -701-5064
Teresa Mendoza-Casby– Supporting DL in ESD 105, 112 & 123 Programs | Dual Language Program Supervisor | 564-999-0610
Elizabeth LaFever – Supporting DL in ESD 121 (King) & 189 | Dual Language Program Supervisor
Patricia Venegas-Weber Ph.D – Supporting DL in ESD 121 (Pierce), 113, & 114 | Dual Language Program Supervisor
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