Transforming Schools for Multilingual Learners
A Comprehensive Guide for Educators
Foreword by Katie Toppel
Essential principles, practices, and structures for multilingual learners
Much has changed in the ten years since this book was first published. A celebrated triumph, it provided state, district, school, and teacher leaders with a comprehensive guide to support multilingual learners to reach their full potential. From selecting the appropriate program model to partnering with families and infusing federal and state laws governing the education of multilingual learners and the rights of their families into all we do, the key messages that made the first edition of this book a renowned success have been re-examined in the second edition with a robust lens to meet these demanding times.
This second edition supports educators to design and enact policies, practices, and structures for multilingual learners (MLs) to feel a sense of safety, belonging, value, and competence.
Topics explored in the book include:
- a discussion of the changes to federal and state policies and their impact on MLs and their families
- strategies to move from a deficit- to an asset-based approach that values multilingualism
- nine principles to design and deliver high-quality lessons in multiple languages and across disciplines
- practices to identify and support MLs with learning differences and disabilities
- steps for building long-lasting family-school partnerships
Reflecting changing trends in leadership, this new edition supports superintendents, principals, curriculum supervisors, coaches, mentors, teachers, and other stakeholders in their collaborative efforts to create and sustain successful language assistance programs.
Free resources
Emphasizing the Importance of Family Engagement
Every family constellation, regardless of configuration, is foundational to a child’s development, understanding of the world around them, social interactions, and cultural identity. This sample chapter includes strategies for linking parent involvement to student learning and provides sample staff and family surveys you can adapt to your school.
Starting With Our Students and Ourselves
This book focuses on creating, implementing, and sustaining effective language assistance programs for MLs. This sample chapter explores three questions that together provide a useful starting point for school- and district-leaders approaching this work:
- Who are MLs?
- Typically, who are the educators of MLs
- How does our work to support MLs complement our district's or school's mission and vision?
What's New in the Second Edition
This book focuses on the ways in which school leaders—including superintendents, principals, curriculum supervisors, coaches, mentors, teachers, teacher educators, and other stakeholders—can create effective school policies, practices, and structures for MLs in their contexts. Read on to learn what's changed since the first edition of this bestselling book was published and explore the focus of each chapter.