An Equitable Approach for Culturally-Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Gifted Students

Cancel Mandatory State Testing in School Year 2020-2021

Good morning - I am an English Learner Program Coordinator in District 26 Cary. I have worked for over 15 years serving multilingual and multicultural communities in Lake, Cook, and McHenry counties. In alignment with administrators across the state, I want to advocate for the cancelling of ALL required state testing this year. For students and families, this year has been challenging as we transition back-and-forth in between hybrid and remote instruction. Just now, based on current COVID-19 metrics, are we able to safely offer hybrid instruction. Hybrid instruction means that students will attend two days per week, two days with asynchronous activities, and one day of remote instruction. Families and communities have advocated strongly for in-person instruction to improve instruction, support the social-emotional development of students, and help students overcome the isolation of the last year. Please cancel mandatory state testing this year. Planning in advance, administratio...

Tough Conversations: When Students Make Jokes about Race in the Classroom

Written by Rocío Robledo-Zak Interviewed by Ryan Zak During a session of guided reading, I was re-teaching a mini lesson on cause and effect with a group of students. The passage we were using involved an expository text on the Pony Express. After students read the passage to themselves, they had to identify and describe at least three causes and effects into their journals. Once they completed that task, we did a turn and share in the group. One student identified one cause by stating that the riders of the Pony Express crossed territorial lands to help deliver mail and the effect was that Indians would kill them for invading their lands. After I praised the student’s response, another student made a teasing comment towards that student, “you see what your people did to the riders.” The lighter-skinned girl, whose comment directed towards the darker-skinned boy, seemed to have the explicit intention playfulness, but the implicit effect of race-related prejudice. After s...

From Good to Premier

From Good to Premier: Why we’re a “Great” Team! As a Language Development Coach (LDC) and a Spanish Biliteracy teacher, I have the privilege to collaborate with a wide variety of educators who constantly push my practice and innovate their own. By educator, I refer to ALL individuals working in our buildings: certified staff, administrative and instructional assistants, related service professionals, custodians, administrators, co-teachers, and instructional coaches. Every one of us has a profound impact on the growth of our students towards realizing their maximum potential. I am inspired every day by our collaborations, innovations, and advocacies for what we think is best for our students. In District 96, our vision statement highlights our ambitious goals towards greatness : “Become the premier elementary school district in the nation,” ( About KCSD96 website ). As highlighted by the word, “become,” we are not there yet. We are constantly striving towards improvement, c...

Teaching and Learning: Language and Culture

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