Last month, on the first day of the 21st United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York, Indigenous people from every continent (excluding Antarctica) spoke on the importance of preserving and enhancing Native languages. Notably, most of them spoke in the language of their colonizers: English, Spanish, French, and Russian.
“I stand before you today speaking English, because my father used to teach me his Cree dialect,” said Assembly of First Nations national chief RoseAnne Archibald. “Fortunately, my mother insisted on teaching me her dialect, of which I’m still not fluent. The intergenerational trauma from these institutions is evident in today’s adults and children who don’t speak their language fluently.”
Cherokee Nation chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. spoke about the preservation of the Cherokee language. As the leader of one of the largest American Indian tribes in the US, Hoskin has been a vocal advocate for preservation of the Cherokee language. Even before the loss of over 50 fluent Cherokee language speakers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hoskin was concerned about the potential loss of the Cherokee language. “The greatest enemy of the Cherokee language right now is the passage of time and the fragility of human lives,” Hoskin said at the UN. “We have no time to lose.”
Hoskin speaks frequently about the cultural identity of Cherokees across the tribe’s 7,000 square miles of tribal lands in Oklahoma and in Cherokee homes. That identity, he says, is fundamentally rooted in the Cherokee language.
Indigenous Taíno people in Puerto Rico also called attention to their situation, which is compounded by their lack of governmental representation. “If we’re not getting visibility or any kind of recognition at the national level, we have no choice but to take it outside and try to build that visibility for our people,” said R. Múkaro Agüeibaná Borrero, president of the United Confederation of Taíno People.
Borrero highlighted Taíno language revitalization efforts, which will lead to the publication of the first Classic Taíno dictionary and grammar guide later this year, and warned that the International Decade of Indigenous Languages must not overlook Indigenous Caribbean languages, calling on the Permanent Forum to give special attention to insular Caribbean Indigenous peoples, including those in both self-governing and non-self-governing territories.
“We’re not only raising the visibility of who we are within the US,” he said. “We’re also raising the visibility of our people for other Indigenous peoples so that we could build that solidarity regionally and internationally.” Indigenous representatives from Arizona, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Crimea, Finland, Guyana, Mexico, New Zealand, Nepal, and Peru also gave testimony and made recommendations.
Native News Online senior reporter Jenna Kunze reported that “Indigenous languages were described as more than words. They are a birthright, the most direct expression of a culture, carrying the eternal ethical values of our ancestors. If lost, our languages directly impact so many aspects of our lives, including Indigenous community health.”
According to more than 25 years of research by the National Institutes of Health and Studies at Yale University, Dyslexia affects one in five people1. The American Academy of Pediatrics2 states that dyslexia is the most common learning disability, accounting for 80% of all learning disabilities. Dyslexia is a specific, lifelong learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. Although dyslexia is common and affects many students, it is not always diagnosed at an early age, leaving students falling through the cracks and behind in reading.
Signs of Dyslexia in Students from Kindergarten to High School There are indicators that teachers can look out for in different ages of students to identify if a student may have dyslexia. Preschool students showing signs of dyslexia may have difficulty pronouncing words (for instance saying ‘busgetti’ for spaghetti). Other signs are having poor auditory memory for nursery rhymes and chants. Those with dyslexia may also have trouble learning numbers, days of the week, colors, shapes, and how to spell or write their name. Kindergarten to third grade students’ signs slightly differ from preschool students. Kindergarten through 3rd grade students might rely on context to recognize words, or fail to understand that words come apart (for example, snowman can be pulled apart into snow and man); and later on, the word man can be broken into phonemes, and might have difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation).
There are many signs of dyslexia in fourth grade to high school students that may go unnoticed by teachers. Some of these students avoid reading out loud, others might have a history of reading and spelling difficulties, and others may resort to less-complicated words, which are easier to spell. Some dyslexic students avoid reading for pleasure or appear like they are uninterested in reading. Caught early, there are many interventions that can help these students to read.
Early Intervention Is Key Early identification and intervention are key to helping students learn to read. About 74% of students who are poor readers in third grade remain so, absent intense intervention. A national study3 from the Annie. E. Casey Foundation found that students who do not read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to leave high school without a diploma than proficient readers.
Dyslexia can affect more than just academic standing in students, it can also affect students’ sociability and emotions. Without the tools to express themselves, dyslexic students may suffer from low self-esteem. To prevent this, it is vital that teachers are aware of signs of dyslexia, so they can recommend an evaluation and get an official diagnosis so those students can have access to the proper accommodations and resources.
Current Support for Diagnosed Dyslexic Students There are several current support options in place for students with dyslexia. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), when a child over three years old is diagnosed with dyslexia, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) can be created. The benefits of an IEP are that there will be individualized, specific instruction for the student who is behind in academic areas and it will provide a combination of instruction to assist in catching the child up to their grade level.
Traditional methods for teaching students how to read are not applicable to students with dyslexia. Of the reading programs that have proven to help students with dyslexia learn how to read, one of the most powerful is Orton-Gillingham4 (OG).
In the 1920s, Dr. Samuel T. Orton and Anna Gillingham created a method, Orton-Gillingham, which was among the first teaching approaches designed to help struggling readers by explicitly teaching the connections between letters and sounds.
Today, we know this same method as Structured Literacy, and it can benefit all learners, both general education and remedial. Structured Literacy (SL) is a term that was created by the International Dyslexia Association5 in 2016 to help unify the names of the researched approaches to reading, including OG, phonics-based reading instruction, systematic reading instruction, and synthetic phonics. These SL programs emphasize the structure of language across all components including phonology, orthography, syntax, morphology, semantics, and discourse.
Applying OG and the Science of Reading Students benefit from explicit, systematic, and sequential techniques that are the hallmark of effective literacy education in the modern classroom. Aligned with the latest research in the Science of Reading, the cumulative, multi-sensory program engages students by utilizing hearing, touch, speaking, and sight to capture students’ attention and make the proper connections with their brains. The Institute of Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE) was the first company to take OG and expand it to help not just students with dyslexia but into general education and the entire classroom. IMSE’s Structured Literacy professional development and classroom programs have helped over 175,000 educators master the art of teaching all children how to read.
IMSE’s approach to SL is based on the Science of Reading and incorporates the best of OG and all five pillars of literacy. While OG has long been associated with dyslexia, IMSE has pioneered “Orton-Gillingham for everyone,” widening its reading strategies into general education. Orton-Gillingham was among the first teaching approaches designed to help struggling readers by explicitly teaching the connections between letters and sounds, and is a research-based, scientific approach to reading and writing instruction.
The Science of Reading6 is the result of a wide span of research designs, experimental methods, participants, and statistical analyses. It includes the contributions of experts from relevant disciplines, such as education, special education, literacy, psychology, and neurology, among others. This conclusive, empirically supported research provides the information needed to gain a deeper understanding of how people learn to read, what skills are involved, how these skills work together, and which parts of the brain are responsible for reading development. From this research comes an evidence-based best practice approach for teaching foundational literacy skills.
Meeting the Needs of All Students Students learn at different rates and at different levels, so it is necessary to differentiate instruction or tasks to accommodate different learning styles and needs. To provide effective differentiation, educators must know each student’s strengths and weaknesses. Differentiation can be done with all students, not just students with disabilities.
According to Diane Heacox, author of Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom: How to Reach and Teach All Learners, Grades 3-12, “Differentiating instruction means changing the pace, level, or kind of instruction you provide in response to individual learners’ needs, styles, or interests.”
When differentiating instruction, educators should first find out what students know about a topic and what they need to learn. After this is established, a variety of activities should be provided.
These activities should support learners’ strengths, while encouraging growth in areas of weakness. According to Heacox, factors to consider when differentiating instruction include student readiness, socioeconomic status, learning pace, gender, and cultural/ethnic influences.
OG is a highly structured approach that breaks reading and spelling down into smaller skills involving letters and sounds, and then building on these skills over time. It was the first approach to use explicit, direct, sequential, systematic, multi-sensory instruction to teach reading, which is not only effective for all students but essential for teaching students with dyslexia. With this approach, students are able to learn how to read no matter their background or abilities.
Jeanne Jeup is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education. Since its founding in 1996, IMSE has trained more than 175,000 reading teachers. As a former first-grade teacher, Jeup realized she lacked an adequate strategy for teaching her students to read.
After working with children, researching early childhood reading development, and using a method based on Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham’s work, Jeanne enables teachers to deliver reading instruction to emergent readers. Ms. Jeup is the proud recipient of the 2018 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Michigan and Northwest Ohio Region.
We have learned the past 20 years, through cognitive science research, that over 90% of students can learn to read at grade level by third grade; however, the Nation’s Report Card in 2019 reported only 37% of America’s twelfth graders were proficient or advanced in reading and a mere 35% were proficient or advanced in fourth grade. This is evidence to consider the importance of those critical early years and teaching with appropriate and successful literacy strategies. We also know that learning to read must occur in the primary levels so that by fourth grade students can read to learn. When this does not happen, schools and children are impacted in dramatic ways: intervention strategies must be put in place, children become discouraged, attendance issues arise, disciplinary problems become more prominent, and drop-out rates increase. With proper and ongoing assessment linked to instructional strategies that focus on prescribed skills, we can tackle this problem, help students succeed, and make the world a better place.
Three years ago, as the superintendent of a district just outside of Pittsburgh, I was contacted by our local Intermediate Unit, a state-supported organization that provides services to public schools. Because I was in a district with an underrepresented population (minority students, low-income status, at-risk), an administrator at the Intermediate Unit recommended our schools and thought that I might be interested in participating in a literacy research study.
We began communicating with the researchers and educators through virtual meetings. We learned that we would be a part of the Education Innovation Research Program (U.S. Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health) with United2Read* to scale 13 years of research and results from seven previous randomized control studies. Not only were we partnering with top researchers in the country, but we were also supported by ESSA Strong evidence-based practices to scale the accessibility of the proven outcomes from Dr. Carol Connor’s research, which had demonstrated that 94% of students could read at or above grade level by third grade.
Our principals and teachers were willing to take part in the study, and thus began our three-year journey. Our partners on this project proved to be truly that: mentors, educators, thought partners, and helpers who built strong and purposeful relationships with our teachers and schools. This was key in making and maintaining the change for student success.
Cognitive science research, we learned, has made significant progress in helping us to understand how the brain functions and how children learn to read. Much like learning to walk, the ability to acquire language is an innate skill that has been a part of human growth and development for thousands of years. Until only a few hundred years ago, printed language had not been developed. Therefore, the ability to decode the written word is a skill that must be acquired; it does not come naturally like spoken language. For many children, this learned decoding begins much later than language learning, usually not until pre-K or kindergarten. A more technical explanation of the phenomenon in the brain is summarized by numerous cognitive researchers in this way, “The phonological processor, toward the front of the brain on the left side, is the part of the brain that handles spoken language… The orthographic processor, toward the back of the brain on the left side, is the part of the brain that deals with visual images… But no one is born with the neural system connecting vision and speech, the phonological assembly region of the brain, and this is the system that enables reading. This system must be built through successful instructional experiences…” (Hruby et al., 2011; Shaywitz and Shaywitz, 2004; Shaywitz and Shaywitz, 2008).
This information has been around for 20 years and yet is not consistently taught at the collegiate level. In a 2019 Education Week survey, 75% of K–2 teachers said they taught the three-cueing method, and 57% of education professors said their philosophy of teaching early reading was balanced literacy, while 65% taught the three-cueing system. All of this is counter to the research. This highlights the difficulty for schools to make any significant or lasting change. What becomes more challenging for teachers is that even when they do understand the science, there have been no practical solutions for moving this research into the classroom in any consistent systematic way. Our work throughout this study did just that.
Not only did our students grow in both age equivalency (innate), a measure of students’ ability on “meaning-focused” work, they also grew in grade equivalency (acquired), “code-focused” activity (Connor et al., 2007). Using a brief online assessment, an algorithm placed students into similar leveled groups. Prescriptive, customized skills and tasks were recommended, and teachers learned to create centers for students to accomplish this differentiated work (Connor et al., 2007). The recommended activities were derived from our district-adopted ELA materials and curriculum. Other open-source materials were also retrievable from the online resource. This was especially helpful, as most purchased curricula have skill gaps here and there (Kelly, 2018). The software assured that materials were available for every literacy competency children needed to acquire.
This new understanding of the interplay, involving two major components of learning to read successfully, helped teachers understand the need for laser focus on both aspects and for providing appropriate skill-level work for each child. When initially tested, some of our students’ vocabularies were measuring at a three-year-old age equivalency. This was an astonishing discovery for teachers as they began to understand why they couldn’t teach all children using the first-grade ELA materials.
They had to go back to fill in language gaps and deficiencies. Once language skills are increased and children are able to decode words, they can unlock the written code, connect their understanding of words, and thus begin the path toward reading fluency and comprehension.
Another powerful component was the daily small-group direct instruction with the teacher and similar-leveled students. Small-group direct instruction is much more effective than whole-group instruction. Teachers can require a high level of attentiveness in a small-group setting. This was possible because students learned to move independently from center to center, working in small groups with little adult supervision and accomplishing tasks that were prescribed for their success. Teachers were exhilarated as they watched their students grow dramatically. One teacher told me that in 18 years of teaching, she had never been challenged to think so critically about the day-to-day implementation of teaching reading. A first-grade teacher reflected that this was the first time in 20 years “every child had a book AND WAS READING during sustained silent reading time!”
Teachers learned to move away from workbooks and worksheets. Centers were extremely interactive and dependent upon teacher decisions. Our centers model was organized and managed by providing each student group the appropriate meaning-focused and code-focused activities with the teacher and then completing student-managed learning with additional code- and meaning-focused work. Our thought partners provided ideas, suggestions, and worktime to collaborate with each other. In classrooms, children were reading to each other, working together with flashcards, “fishing” for words in the sand, then saying the words and writing the words on a whiteboard. All classrooms utilized iPads, with one center acting as a technology game or activity. Teachers established tech helpers in the classroom (even in kindergarten), and other students interacted with their tech helper if they needed assistance—not the teacher. It was a joy to see children moving about a classroom, freely, confidently, and proud of being successful with their work. This program truly transformed our schools.
There are many reasons why this proved to be so successful; the research, software assessment, and prescribed lessons, along with new teaching strategies and classroom protocols, were certainly the heart of the program. However, and on reflection, the unique aspect of this experience was the relationship building and professional development that manifested to be the sustaining factor of implementation. The approach taken was not only research-based, it was systematic, collaborative, and supportive, providing all the necessary components of a successful implementation process (something that schools and administrators rarely have time or resources to do properly).
The professional development portion of the project began by conducting a literacy scan with a literacy outcomes specialist to identify strengths and weaknesses in our program and to really listen to what teachers needed and wanted as they moved through this process. The literacy outcomes specialist provided professional development on the science of reading, helped teachers learn to effectively use the software and data, and provided ideas for centers and new teaching strategies that were specific to each teacher. She visited the classrooms and provided third-party feedback that was neither critical nor evaluative. This customized, supportive approach made an enormous impact on truly changing teacher and student classroom behaviors and protocols.
This was not one or two professional development sessions; this PD occurred on a monthly basis, with the literacy outcomes specialist available for emails, phone calls, and anything else requested by teachers. The implementation was a three-year commitment. This type of sustained, long-term professional development and implementation with the type of support provided to teachers is not something that is normally seen or provided for in school systems. However, considering the dramatic outcomes, it must certainly be strongly considered as a huge element to successful and sustainable change. There is no time to waste. We are dealing with the lives and futures of our youngest and most vulnerable students.
The joy of this three-year effort was not only in how classroom culture shifted. We were also able to celebrate the growth in our students as we reviewed the data. The age equivalency and grade equivalency scores in every classroom exceeded the expectations of our United2Read partners. Last year, despite the COVID-19 situation that forced our schools to close in March, our students were on track and showing growth. For example, in our school with the most needy children, the average of three kindergarten classrooms’ age-equivalency growth was one full year, exceeding the anticipated seven months of growth. In another elementary school, grade equivalency during that same period soared to 1.1 years in kindergarten, 1.4 years in first grade, and .75 years in second grade. In our third elementary school, the average of four kindergarten classrooms boasted 1.5 years in age-equivalency growth and .75 in grade-equivalency growth. Results in all classrooms fluctuated but were similar. Clearly, instruction driven by assessment, prescriptive differentiated instruction, and small-group direct instruction has an impact on student literacy growth. Systemic change is the result of ongoing, consistent, and meaningful professional development and support. It also requires researched strategies that have been proven effective.
Dr. Laura Burns, principal, shared this: “A2i (Assessment to Instruction) is not a curriculum but a philosophy for teaching students literacy skills. The professional development that staff receives is the most crucial element of the program. Veteran teachers felt reinvigorated as they stopped feeling tied to the day-by-day curriculum guides of our textbook series and responded to the needs of students. What teachers felt they always knew about students was now backed up with specific data gathered in small-group sessions and the A2i assessments. Students love, and ask for, the centers and they are forced to take a more active ownership role in their learning.”
Through this process of integrating the science of reading with a practical approach for instruction, the teacher was not taken out of the equation; rather, the teacher was placed at the heart of instruction in the classroom. By not having to spend so much time reviewing data to determine how to plan instruction for every student, teachers were able to focus on what they do best— teaching.
References Connor, C. M., Morrison, F. J., Fishman, B. J., Schatschneider, C., and Underwood, P. (2007). “Algorithm-Guided Individualized Reading Instruction.” Science, 315, 464–465.
Hruby, G. G., Goswami, U., Frederiksen, C. H., and Perfetti, C. A. (Eds.). (2011). “Neuroscience and Reading: A review for reading education researchers.” Reading Research Quarterly, 46(2), 156–172.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (2019). “National Assessment of Educational Progress: The Nation’s Report Card.” http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard
Shaywitz, S. E., and Shaywitz, B. A. (2004). “Reading Disability and the Brain.” Educational Leadership, 61(6), 6–11.
Shaywitz, S. E., and Shaywitz, B. A. (2008). “Paying Attention to Reading: The neurobiology of reading and dyslexia.” Developmental Psychopathology, 20(4), 1329–1349. doi:10.1017/S0954579408000631
*United2Read was created as a partnership with Learning Ovations, MDRC, Digital Promise, and the University of California Irvine. Utilizing millions of federal dollars, they have studied classrooms and connected those findings to cognitive science. Seven randomized, controlled studies have proven that the process achieves 94% of students reading at or above grade level by third grade utilizing the techniques and technology expanded by Learning Ovations. For additional information, go to www.learningovations.com.
Dr. Jo Welter was the superintendent in Pennsylvania’s Ambridge Area School District, retiring in June 2020. She served as an assistant middle school principal, elementary principal, and high school principal, all in large districts in Allegheny County near Pittsburgh. Finally, as an assistant superintendent at Hampton Township School District, Dr. Welter was responsible for curriculum and assessment, supervision, and evaluation of teachers, along with supervision of principals. She has enjoyed her professional career tremendously and could not be happier leaving education with such a successful final literacy project—a reminder that we are lifelong learners.
One of the definitions of figure is “a diagram or picture.” At the most basic level, figurative language is language that names or describes an image with words.
For example, if we say “words paint a picture,” then we are speaking figuratively, since words do not actually use brushes and paint, but they can create an image in our minds. This kind of image—made with words—is an important aspect of using language. Often these figures of speech are used as a quick shorthand for complicated ideas or colorful substitutes for literal descriptions. They are ways to make writing more playful, memorable, and immediate. They help us connect with the reader and, as long as we are aware of possible clichés that might distract a reader from the point we are making, add style to our writing.
There are many ways to use figurative language. Let’s start with phrases so common that we barely notice them as imagery. Some of these small groupings of words can stand for ideas that could be conveyed literally with fewer words: up in the air (“undecided”); in a flash (“quickly”); hold your horses (“slow down”).
Then there are other idioms that form a kind of shorthand for more complicated ideas that would take at least a sentence to explain. These word-pictures essentially use extremely short stories to compress these meanings into a very few words: raise the bar; take it in stride; elephant in the room.
Metaphors and similes are another category of figurative language use. A metaphor substitutes a word or phrase with one that makes an analogy or explanation with an image: a mountain of paperwork.
A simile compares a word or phrase with one that makes an analogy or explanation that uses like or as: fast as lightning.
Even individual words can convey figurative meanings. Again, some of these have become so familiar that the original concrete or literal meaning of these words might not occur to us when we use them: emotional baggage; going viral.
Figurative use of language also takes the form of extreme exaggeration, or hyperbole. This very often expresses an impossibility or near impossibility: The show went on forever.
Finally, if we give our words qualities or abilities that people have but that the things we are describing can’t logically possess, the result is a different kind of figurative language called personification: The words jumped off the page.
That leaves us only to warn about overuse or abuse of these images—a little figurative language can go a long way.
Follow Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster, on Twitter @PeterSokolowski.
Last month, Russia blocked access to the websites of Radio France Internationale and the Russian-language service of The Moscow Times in the latest restrictions on media since Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Moscow Times, whose English-language website was unaffected, said in a statement the move was due to a story about the conflict in Ukraine. RFI, which broadcasts in 16 languages including Russian, said it had not been provided with an explanation.
Russian internet providers had started to block The Moscow Times Russian-language site after a notice from the communications watchdog.
The newspaper, which has covered Russia for three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, said on its English-language website that its Russian service was blocked after it published what “authorities call a false report on riot police officers refusing to fight in Ukraine.”
Russia has placed restrictions on reporting on the conflict. Moscow says Western media have provided an excessively partial narrative of the war in Ukraine.
JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, a Japanese cultural destination in the heart of Hollywood, has expanded its resources to include an extensive digital library with more than 900 titles. Readers can now explore their passions for Japanese art, culture, manga, food, and beyond with free access to the “always open” library from anywhere in the world. To access the digital library, simply sign up for a digital library card at https://japanhousela.overdrive.com, search for available books, and follow the steps to check them out. The virtual library enhances the JAPAN HOUSE main library located on Level 5 at Ovation Hollywood (formerly Hollywood and Highland), which provides a relaxing physical space for visitors to browse a specially curated collection of 600 books uniquely categorized into eleven themes including art, food, and film. “While our physical library has always been a space to pause, contemplate, relax, and study, our new virtual library makes Japanese culture more accessible for readers, such as looking up a recipe, checking out the latest Japanese novel, or learning more about an anime series,” said Yuko Kaifu, president of JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles. “Our hope is that the digital library serves as a bridge leading people to further explore Japanese culture, including visiting our latest exhibition and learning more about our programs.”
Both the digital and physical libraries are curated by Yoshitaka Haba, who has created an extensive collection, connecting books with different industries and providing patrons with greater access to unknown books. JAPAN HOUSE’s digital library is available to those 13 and up with a valid US mobile number. Books are available on loan for 14 days, and one person can borrow up to five books at a time. Parental discretion is advised. For first-time users, use the May to June campaign code: jhlareadspring22. (Use campaign code jhlareadsummer22 for July to September.) Those wishing to further their exploration of Japanese culture are encouraged to add a visit to JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles during their summer travel plans, not only to check out the physical library but also to view The Art of the Ramen Bowl exhibit, showcasing the history and culture of Japanese ramen.
JAPAN HOUSE is a worldwide project with three hubs—London, Los Angeles, and São Paulo—conceived by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. It seeks to nurture a deeper understanding and appreciation of Japan in the international community. https://japanhousela.overdrive.com
A start-up company helping people learn different languages is the winner of the 2022 University of Hawai’i Venture Competition (UHVC). GOALL (Great Online Activities for Language Learning), led by University of Hawai’i at Mānoa PhD students, won a prize package of more than $34,000.
GOALL provides a web and mobile app to help adult language learners achieve their goals through customizable and research-grounded task-based activities. Its prize package includes $10,000 from title sponsors Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) and Hawaiian Electric and more than $24,000 in in-kind prizes. Team members are Ann Choe, Kristen Urada, Yang Liu, and Susanne DeVore, who are all PhD students in UH Mānoa’s Department of Second Language Studies in the College of Arts, Languages, and Letters.
“We are very honored to receive first place,” said Choe, GOALL’s team leader. “The whole experience was a fantastic opportunity to develop our entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. We’re grateful for PACE, our coach Jeff Hui, and those who supported GOALL all along. We can’t wait to advance GOALL to its next step.”
UHVC is hosted annually by PACE in UH Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business to support budding entrepreneurs by providing hands-on education, mentorship, and resources to students from the ten-campus UH System who wish to start new businesses.
The third-place winner was the Ōfaga Leo Preschool System, which provides immersion language education in Hawai’i and the continental US in areas where there is a high demand for childcare and preschool services in the Samoan language.
The third-place prize totaled more than $10,000, including a $2,500 cash prize sponsored by HiBEAM in honor of pioneer Billy Richardson. Team members are John Patu Jr., a PhD student in Hawaiian and Indigenous language and culture revitalization at UH Hilo, and Carmelita T. Patu, a creative media student at Windward Community College.
Cambridge University Press & Assessment has launched a new extension of its brand for its English learning and assessment products, used around the world by millions of students and teachers. This includes Cambridge English Qualifications, courses, support, and digital resources to help people learn English and prove their skills to the world. Cambridge’s new look and feel for its English range also includes the promise “where your world grows.”
Francesca Woodward, global managing director for English, says the new brand will give the organization a strong, single identity going forward: ‘‘Last year we combined our publishing and assessment operations, and now our team works even more closely together to deliver the very best solutions for English language learners and teachers worldwide. In the past, learners and teachers have taken exams and used textbooks and digital resources from different parts of our Cambridge family, and our new single brand for English brings all of this together under one roof. It helps us to show the world that we create unique learning and assessment experiences that could only come from Cambridge.”
Woodward added, “As part of our commitment to the environment, we’re not asking our partners and distributors around the world to throw away existing branded materials. We want them to take a step-by-step approach to the transition to our new Cambridge brand for English.” www.cambridge.org/english
The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) has partnered with UMass Global as part of the National Professional Development grant program to build the capacity of Louisiana educators who support English Learners. Educators will participate in required coursework to gain their English Learner Add-On Certification (https://www.teachlouisiana.net/checklist/esl.pdf) at no cost. The 2021-2022 cohort includes 11 educators from Bossier, Calcasieu, Jefferson, Orleans, Ouachita, St. Bernard, St. Mary, and Terrebonne Parishes. Cohort Two will begin Fall 2022.
“By developing Louisiana educators who can effectively support the needs of English Learners, we will ensure high-quality teaching and learning for all students, improve student outcomes, and increase English language proficiency,” said Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley. “This initiative is helping Louisiana educators close the achievement gap between English Learners and their native English-speaking peers.”
By the end of the five-year grant, approximately 100 teachers will have attained their English Learner Add-On Certification.
Newark Boosts Teacher Pay
The Newark Board of Education and the Newark Teachers Union (NTU) reached an agreement to raise the district’s starting teacher salary to $62,000 per year, a decision officials hope will recruit and retain more educators after the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the school district’s staffing shortage.
The agreement for the new starting salary, up $8,000 for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree under the union’s current contract, was reached after about three months of negotiations between district and union officials. With district labor agreements across the state having expired during the pandemic while others reopened negotiations mid-contract to raise salaries as an incentive for recruitment and retention, Newark Public Schools officials said “immediate action was required” with NTU’s contract which runs through the 2023-24 school year.
“While teacher shortages across the nation have been exacerbated by the global pandemic, we in Newark are leveraging multiple strategies to attract and retain great teachers,” Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger León said. “These new salaries will attract fresh talent and at the same time foster retention by increasing the salaries of experienced teachers.”
The agreement also increased the salaries of all teachers who currently earn less than the new teacher salary to $62,000, including increases of $1,000 over the next two years to retain educators, according to district officials.
Additionally, the district’s new hires in critical areas, including mathematics, science, special education, bilingual education, and English as a second language, are eligible for a $4,000 signing bonus. All district employees are eligible for a $1,000 bonus for referral of a new teacher that is successfully on-boarded, according to district officials.
National Report on Pay and Teacher Shortage
At the end of April, the National Education Association (https://www.nea.org/) released a set of detailed reports unveiling alarming new data about educator pay and other key findings related to what is contributing to the nationwide educator shortage.
“For decades, America’s educators have been chronically underappreciated and shamefully underpaid,” said NEA president Becky Pringle. “Throughout this persistent and ongoing pandemic, they have demonstrated their commitment to all students, no matter their ZIP code, the language they speak, or the gender with which they identify. After persevering through the hardest school years in recent memory, our educators are exhausted and feeling less and less optimistic about their futures.
“If we want to reverse course and keep qualified teachers in the classroom and caring professionals in schools, then we must increase educator pay across the board and expand access to collective bargaining and union membership for all those working in public education. The reality is that educators with collective bargaining laws in their states make more than their non-collective bargaining peers. We encourage more state and local lawmakers to follow the lead of Mississippi and New Mexico, as well as Jefferson County, Colorado, and Minneapolis. They took strides to address educator shortages by authorizing pay increases for educators,” said Pringle.
The four separate reports released by the NEA, include:
Rankings and Estimates, which provides a wide array of school funding statistics and includes the average teacher salary by state and nationally.
Teacher Salary Benchmark Report, which provides information from nearly 12,000 local school districts on starting teacher salaries and salaries at other points of the teaching career continuum.
ESP Earnings Report, which offers a breakdown of educational support professional (ESP) pay in K-12 and higher education.
Higher Education Faculty Salary Analysis, which looks at full-time faculty and graduate assistant salaries at the national, state, and institutional level.
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