PLEASANT HILL, CALIF. – July 16, 2020 – Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE) is announcing its partnership with Californians Together, Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL), and Loyola Marymount University’s Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL), which has recently been awarded a $5 million Educator Workforce Incentive Grant from the California Department of Education to support implementation of the California English Learner Roadmap Policy.
The three organizations will work together over the next three years to help county offices of education implement the Roadmap. Passed in 2017, the Roadmap is designed to guide systemic change to improve education for the 1.2 million English learners who attend school in California.
The new partnership is called EL RISE! (English Learner Roadmap Implementation for System Excellence). The three organizations will partner with 19 county offices of education* to increase their capacity to meet the needs of English learners; work with Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to build knowledge and develop local implementation plans; host professional development for educators; and help with technical assistance and capacity building. The 20 county offices of education collectively serve 76.7% of California’s English learners.
“We are excited to work in partnership with Californians Together and 19 county offices across the state in support of our English Learners,” says Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey. “This joint effort will provide professional development opportunities rooted in research and educational equity, further preparing our English Learners to fully and meaningfully access and participate in a twenty-first century education from early childhood through grade twelve.”
The EL RISE! partnership will facilitate local cross-sector teams to help each county become familiar with the roadmap as well as job-specific professional development strands for leaders and administrators, teachers, and for bilingual and dual language teachers. EL RISE! will also host institutes for other stakeholders such as board members, parents and higher education faculty. These sessions will focus on topics like improving classroom practice, creating an asset-oriented school climate, and demographics and research on the EL population in California.
EL RISE! is focused on both supporting educators in developing skills and knowledge they need to deliver powerful instruction and services to English learners, but also on systems change. To that end, EL RISE! will also make work sessions available to help LEAs with things like developing English learner aligned LCAPs, master plans, data dashboards, and developing other resources for the field.
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Californians Together is a statewide coalition that advises state and national policy makers and mobilizes communities to protect and promote access to quality education for the state’s English learners.
SEAL (Sobrato Early Academic Language) is a research-based English learner and bilingual education model. SEAL has been working with educators and school leaders from more than 100 elementary schools and 130 preschool classrooms in California for 12 years.
Center for Equity for English Learners at Loyola Marymount University (CEEL) since 2006, enriches and supports the work of educators, schools, school systems, educational/community partners, and policy makers through an assets-based approach.
* Collaborating County Offices of Education:
•Anchors: Los Angeles, Tulare, Sacramento/Yolo
•Partners: Contra Costa, Kern, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Diego, San Mateo, Riverside
•Participating: Butte, Imperial, King, Merced, Orange, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, Ventua