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Leadership: Pivoting to Progress


Teachers are often drawn to education in hopes of exercising their creative freedom to make a difference in children’s lives. Yet it can be a crushing blow to realize when they enter the teaching profession that it involves far more than passion, intellect, and creative freedom. Teachers must constantly navigate an array of hierarchical structures, from top-down initiatives to rigid personnel policies to observation protocols that measure and ensure teacher compliance. There is likely nothing quite as frustrating for creative and passionate intellectuals as to realize that they’ve been ensnared in a complicated web of rules and mandates—that the autonomy they expected is much more limited than they could have imagined, and that their voices don’t carry much weight.

And sadly, the longer teachers remain in the profession and hone their skills and expertise, the more depleting it feels to be trapped in a system that often requires you to silence your voice, ignore your intuition, and stifle your good ideas.

Fortunately, there are actionable steps that leaders at all levels can take to tap into teachers’ agency, restore their faith in the educational system, and encourage them to remain in the profession. These changes are to the benefit of all stakeholders—school systems, teachers, and students. 

This article is the first of two that will help leaders explore what they can do to prioritize teacher agency; it will dive into three leadership mindset pivots that leaders can adopt to begin to restore teacher agency, and in the process help them reconnect to their love of the profession.

Leadership Pivot 1: Embrace a Servant Leadership Mindset

In order to begin restoring a sense of agency to educators, educational leaders who have been out of the classroom since before the pandemic need to be mindful that they simply do not have firsthand experience with the new challenges faced by today’s teachers, from scaffolding in new ways to meet the unique challenges of post-pandemic learners to managing the intense and growing distractions of students’ cell phones, personal devices, and even school-issued devices. With these realities in mind, there is no better time for leaders to consider a more humble approach to leadership, one that restores teacher agency by positioning teachers as the experts with leaders serving as supportive guides, or “servant leaders.”

The philosophy of servant leadership was developed in the 1970s by Robert Greenleaf, who believed that “organizations that thrived had able leadership, with leaders who acted more as supportive coaches and served both the needs of both [sic] employees and organizations.”1 

Educational leaders have the power to be transformative if they embrace a servant leadership mindset, tap into the expertise of the teachers they lead, position them at the center of pivotal decisions, and give them the freedom to leverage their experience and intuition in response to the needs of their students. Howard Behar, former president of Starbucks, offers a phrase that is a helpful metaphor to illustrate what it truly means to be a servant leader: “The one that sweeps the floor should choose the broom.” Leaders can extend this metaphor by empowering teachers to reflect, adjust, and provide feedback to leadership if “the broom” seems insufficient to achieve the desired learning outcomes. Leaders at all levels can use the guiding principle of servant leadership to make immediate changes to the way they captain their teams. Here are some pathways toward this goal:

Put teacher knowledge at the center of decision-making processes whenever possible. Embrace a servant leadership approach by not only gathering teacher input before making decisions but actively empowering teachers to come to consensus themselves about the decisions that impact the work they do, and the students they serve, each day. 

Make regular use of surveys, formal and informal, to gather teacher feedback about the type of professional learning experiences that would be most relevant to them. Aim to both gather open-ended feedback and provide choices from which teachers can select. 

Share widely when leadership decisions reflect teacher feedback to strengthen trust, reinforce teacher agency, and build collective efficacy.

When servant leaders center practitioner knowledge and expertise and dare to allow teachers to drive the decision-making process, they put the power to improve teaching and learning into the hands of the people who know their students best. Certainly, there are some decisions that leaders ultimately plan to make themselves, even if they seek and appreciate teacher input. In these instances, before inviting teachers to join task forces or committees, leaders should pause and consider carefully whether they can honor a collaborative model of decision making on a given issue. Teachers appreciate collaborative decision making, but what they appreciate even more is clarity and honesty about the decision-making process and respect for their time and insights as professionals. 

Leadership Pivot 2: Embrace a Multiplier Mindset

Teachers have long had to suffer the indignity of having everyone but those presently in the classroom tell them what is best for their instruction and their students; this concern has become especially poignant in our highly politicized and divisive social climate, with members of the public assuming they know better than those with degrees in education, and special interest groups attempting to control what can be taught in schools. Leaders can mitigate the impact of this reality, improve teacher retention, and create a stronger sense of collective teacher efficacy by embracing what is called a multiplier mindset, a concept developed by researcher and executive adviser
Liz Wiseman. Multipliers seek to tap into the collective talents of their teams; they believe in the inherent worth, intelligence, and capabilities of the people they serve, and harness these to create conditions for collective flourishing. Multipliers not only care deeply about demonstrating how much they value the members of their teams, they also are passionate about leading in a way that makes this mindset abundantly clear. Wiseman (2017)3 describes the multiplier mindset in this way: 

By being small, others get a chance to be big.
By being big less often, your own ideas will be more impactful. (p. 322)

Educational leaders can be multipliers by not only regularly, genuinely demonstrating how much they value practitioner knowledge, but also by broadcasting the genius of their teams to the larger community. 

Often, the main way leaders show that they value the unique insights and knowledge of teachers is by sending follow-up emails or notes to praise something that they observed during a classroom visit. Certainly, this is a worthwhile practice, but in addition, leaders should strive to recognize and amplify the value of practitioner knowledge in other ways. Here are a few pathways to do so:

  • Highlight teachers’ approaches, ideas, expertise, action research, or other work during times when teams or departments are gathered. Better yet, invite and support teachers to do so (with both encouragement and the time necessary for them to plan and prepare to share). 
  • Be aware of local, state, and national conferences and encourage teachers to lead professional learning in these settings; support their endeavors with the funding and coverage necessary for them to attend. 
  • Encourage teachers to write about their practitioner knowledge. If this feels daunting, offer to partner with teachers to cowrite articles or blog posts and work together to submit them to major educational publications. 
  • Create a culture that values practitioner knowledge by harnessing your position of power to make teachers’ work visible to other members of the school district community such as board members, school and district administrators, district families, and community members. 

When teachers and administrators partner to uphold the value of practitioner knowledge, not only is teacher agency restored at the individual teacher and school culture levels—the public narratives around teacher practice begin to shift in positive ways. (For more on this concept, see Cathy Fleischer and Antero Garcia’s powerful book, Everyday Advocacy: Teachers Who Change the Literacy Narrative.)

Leadership Pivot 3: Listen More, Speak Less

Although it may seem counterintuitive when you are running meetings and guiding teams, you can actually have a greater impact and amplify teacher agency by being intentional about how many times you speak and for how long. If you approach meetings with the belief that your staff has valuable information to inform your leadership decisions, your primary goal should be to ask questions, listen, and then listen more. As leaders often have limited time with staff as a whole group, this time can be well spent when looked at as an opportunity to tap into the collective wisdom of your team and give them a voice in decision making. As instructional coaches, we have learned firsthand that none of us have all of the answers, and we are always better and stronger when we work together. Bestselling author Daniel Pink, in his 2016 Georgetown commencement address, elucidated this point well when he told graduates, “My hard-won experience coupled with two decades of watching organizations in action has taught me this… if you think you’re the smartest person in the room, you’ve just proved that you’re not. Believing that you’re the smartest person in the room, trust me on this, never ends well. It’s how companies crumble… it’s how governments make tragic mistakes… and it’s how otherwise capable people undermine their achievements and limit their contributions.” Here are a few ways to implement this leadership pivot and demonstrate your belief in the collective wisdom of your staff:

Ask follow-up questions to gain context and further insight about teachers’ remarks, such as, “Can you say more about that?” and “What else?” Often, people can discover the underlying truths of what they’re trying to convey if you act as a sounding board and give them time to figure things out. 

Consider where teachers’ comments overlap and intersect and then offer synthesizing and clarifying statements and questions, such as, “What I’m hearing from many of you is… Is that accurate? Would someone else like to add their thoughts?” We’ve learned through experience that regardless of how well we’re prepared for a professional development session, a presentation, or a coaching conversation, leveraging the collective intelligence of the room is always the answer.

Ahead of a meeting, assign yourself a limit for how many times you will advance your own opinions. This is another strategy from author and entrepreneur Liz Wiseman; in support of her multiplier mindset, she urges leaders to “play fewer chips.” She describes it this way: “Before a meeting, give yourself a budget of ‘poker chips,’ with each chip representing a comment or contribution to the meeting. Use your chips wisely, and leave the rest of the space for others to contribute.”

Decide in advance if a meeting is indeed the optimal format based on your agenda. If you primarily need to inform teachers about mandated state, district, or school policies or about testing protocols, you can still demonstrate a multiplier mindset and respect for teacher agency by being aware and respectful of teachers’ time: curate carefully what needs to be presented in person and what an email is sufficient for, and offer follow-up sessions to avoid keeping a whole group waiting for the questions and concerns of only a few.


When leaders and teachers work collaboratively to make critical decisions about issues impacting departments, schools, and districts, teachers feel valued, heard, and respected, and they come to see and appreciate the wisdom, talents, and experience of their colleagues. All of this contributes to higher job satisfaction and a more powerful sense of teacher collective efficacy. According to educator and researcher John Hattie, teacher collective efficacy is the most significant influence on student achievement.2 For progressive leaders who want to retain their teachers and improve student learning outcomes, the way forward is to adopt a humbler approach and to position teachers as the experts they are. 

References

www.greenleaf.org/robert-k-greenleaf-biography

Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) according to John Hattie

Multipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman (2017, HarperCollins)

Beth Pandolpho is an instructional coach for grades 6–12, and she has taught English at the high school and college levels for over 20 years. She is passionate about engaging in work that promotes equity and access for both teachers and students.

Katie Cubano is an educator focused on supporting teachers and schools as they design and implement curriculum and instruction that effectively and equitably meet students’ needs. Katie has over 15 years of experience in education, including teaching at the secondary and postsecondary levels and instructional coaching.

Saudi Arabian Schools Welcome First Chinese Teachers

The first 175 Chinese language teachers began teaching at primary and middle schools in Saudi Arabia last month, as part of an agreement made between the two countries in 2023 to enhance cooperation in Chinese language education.


Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education and the Center for Language Education and Cooperation under China’s Ministry of Education jointly organized a preservice training at Tianjin Normal University for the educators.

This initiative highlights the collaborative efforts to implement agreements between the leaderships of China and Saudi Arabia in 2022, strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries.


According to China’s state Xinhua News Agency, Saudi Arabia will start with Chinese language classes in middle schools, and 800 such teaching positions will be available.

Spanish Studies


Every year, thousands of students from across the world make their way to Spain to attend language schools and the 76 universities located in the country. Statistics from the academic year 2021–22 show that nearly 250,000 international students enrolled in Spanish universities, out of which over 50,000 were on exchange programs. They come to the country for numerous reasons, with the knowledge that studying here is a truly enlightening experience. Spain offers its international students the opportunity to create new attitudes and concepts about life. It gives students a fresh perspective on the world around them.

Spain offers a stable and consolidated political democratic framework, supported by the 1978 Constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights and public freedoms. Crucial to the diversity of the nation is the Constitution’s protection of regionalism though its creation of 17 autonomous regions and two autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melilla on the North African coast). Each region has its own distinctive personality and characteristics, as seen in their architecture, their fiestas and traditions, their local cuisine, and even their own languages, including Catalan (Catalunya), Euskadi (Basque Country), and Gallego (Galicia).

Following the peaceful end to Franco’s dictatorship nearly 50 years ago, Spanish society embraced social change and now stands out in Europe for its accepting spirit, respect for sexual freedom, and coexistence between religions. Maybe as a result of the coexistence for centuries of different cultures, the Spanish personality is open, cheerful, tolerant, and respectful. Citizens from other countries are welcomed.

Spain is a healthy country, with the second-highest life expectancy of OECD nations. According to the Bloomberg Index, Spain’s health system is the third most efficient in the world (behind Hong Kong and Singapore). According to the Index published by the medical journal The Lancet, in terms of quality, Spain has the eighth-best health system in the world.

The weather is one of the main attractions in Spain. With more than 3,000 hours of sunshine per year, Spain is one of the warmest countries in Europe but is full of contrasts, from the tree-lined mountains of the north across Don Quixote’s central mesa to the southern beaches. Extensive beaches of white or golden sand, hidden coves, and beaches surrounded by forest run along all the Spanish coast, from the Costa Brava in the north to the Costa del Sol in the south. As well as beaches, Spain has the most biosphere reserves of any country.

The country’s transport network is one of the best on the planet. Spain has the second-longest high-speed rail network in the world and the longest in Europe, with the most modern and technologically advanced train fleet in the continent. On top of this, it ranks ninth in the world in air connectivity and has the largest highway map of Europe.

The Spanish food scene relies on fresh products and quality raw materials renowned worldwide, with more Michelin-starred restaurants than anywhere else, as well as literally thousands of affordable top-quality restaurants frequented by locals and visitors alike.
Fish, seafood, Iberian ham, olive oil, cheeses, and wine are part of the Mediterranean diet. From the most traditional recipes—tortilla de patatas, paella, sopa de fideos—to the most avant-garde cuisine, Spanish gastronomy is synonymous with quality, and don’t forget that Spain is the birthplace of that international phenomenon—tapas.

Spain has one of the lowest crime rates in Europe. It is the third-safest country in the European Union, behind Luxembourg and Slovenia. According to the Legatum Prosperity Index, Spain ranks as the 15th country in the world in national and personal security.
It is an authentic cultural, historical, and monumental melting pot, as evidenced by emblematic monuments such as its palaces, like La Granja de San Ildefonso in Segovia; cathedrals, like those in Burgos or Santiago de Compostela; medieval castles in Xàtiva; Roman ruins in Mérida; and museums, such as Prado in Madrid and Guggenheim in Bilbao. Spain is also home to many UNESCO World Heritage sites. In addition to treasures like the Alhambra in Granada or the Camino de Santiago, Spain can boast of being home to many artists and writers, like Cervantes, Goya, Velázquez, Picasso, Dalí, and Gaudi.

Soccer, tennis, and golf are just some of the sports in which Spanish players excel, thanks to an impressive infrastructure of facilities and training programs where students can really develop relationships, as sport is considered a great way to promote cooperation, integration, and cultural exchange.

Take the opportunity to study in Spain—you won’t regret it.

Vote for the American Dream

Although education policy has not been at the top of the political agenda in the run-up to the presidential election, the two candidates propose very different plans for the US education system, the consequences of which may be fundamental to the experience of being American.

Constitutionally, education policy is under the remit of state governments, so the argument has been made that the existence of the Department of Education is an overreach of federal control. Indeed, former president Donald Trump has pledged to eliminate the department, saying at a recent rally, “We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing.”

However, the Department of Education does not exist to lay down educational policy or curricula—it’s there to help the educational system be more equitable. Access to a well-funded, quality education is a civil rights issue, and civil rights are very much the responsibility of the federal government.

Federal education funding through the department accounts for about 11% of education spending nationwide, the majority of which ($34 billion) is spent bolstering schools in low-income communities through Title I and helping students with disabilities through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Trump campaign has not specified what it proposes to do with these programs, but Project 2025, the conservative policy agenda informally connected to Trump, proposes sending the funds for Title I and IDEA to states to spend as they choose, while phasing out federal spending on Title I over a ten-year period.

Reallocating Title I funding would decimate school districts in higher poverty areas, including most districts with high percentages of multilingual learners and minorities. The reality is that state and local governments have not been able, nor in some cases willing, to adequately fund schools in less affluent communities.

Vice President Kamala Harris has voiced support for programs to address inequity across early childhood, K–12, and higher education. She opposes plans to close the Department of Education and has proposed asking Congress to triple Title I funding and to fully fund IDEA. On the campaign trail, she has not focused on education but has suggested affordability measures for early childhood and higher education, including promising to continue the push for universal preschool, which has stalled in Congress.

Many members of the Republican Party, including Trump, claim that encouraging states to promote “school choice” through the provision of vouchers and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs)—giving parents public money for private school tuition—will help minority students receive the education they need to succeed. However, these programs reduce public school budgets and have not been shown to improve student levels of attainment. Recent large-scale voucher programs in Indiana and Louisiana have even been shown to result in negative effects on achievement.

Despite there being little proof of their efficacy, many states have enacted school choice programs—19 school choice bills were passed in 17 states in 2023, and 17 such bills have been approved so far in 2024. So, it seems they’re not in need of federal encouragement.

What the federal government does need to do is close the widening wealth gap and offer all Americans the opportunity of middle-class comfort. For decades, public schools have proven their capacity to encourage equity and provide opportunity for all. Universal public education was probably the most important reason the US became the richest country in the world in the 20th century1. Now, more than ever, we need to close the divides in our society by channeling funding to the schools that need it most, so that all students can share in the American Dream.

-Daniel Ward

Note

(i) “The U.S. advantage in the schooling of its young produced, by mid-century [20th], large differences between the educational stock of its labor force and that of other rich countries, a result that would hardly be surprising except for the fact that the United States had absorbed millions of less-educated immigrants. Only in recent decades have many rich countries caught up to, and even exceeded, the United States in years of education for young persons.

“At the same time that the United States led the world in mass education in the twentieth century, it rapidly expanded its economic lead. No single factor can account for the economic dominance of the United States in the twentieth century and most of the favored explanations, be they rooted in technological, institutional, or natural resource factors, are complementary ones. But despite that admonition, it would appear logical that part, possibly a major part, of the economic precedence of the United States came from its enormous lead in education.“

Goldin, Claudia and Lawrence F. Katz. 2001. “The Legacy of U.S. Educational Leadership: Notes on Distribution and Economic Growth in the 20th Century.” American Economic Review, 91 (2): 18–23.

Claudia Goldin, 2023 Nobel Prize winner in economics, also wrote:  

“At the dawn of the twentieth century the industrial giants watched each other cautiously. The British sent high-ranking commissions to the United States and the United States sent similar groups to Britain and Germany. All were looking over their shoulders to see what made for economic greatness and what would ensure supremacy in the future… Earlier delegations focused on technology and physical capital. Those of the turn-of-the-century turned their attention to something different. People and training, not capital and technology, had become the new concerns…For the twentieth century to become the human capital century required vast changes in educational institutions, a commitment by governments to fund education, a readiness by taxpayers to pay for the education of other people’s children, a belief by business and industry that formal schooling mattered to them, and a willingness on the part of parents to send their children to school (and by youths to go). The transition occurred first in the United States and was accompanied by a set of “virtues” or principles, many of which can be summarized by the word “egalitarianism.” 

See Goldin C, Katz LF. Why the United States Led in Education: Lessons from Secondary School Expansion, 1910 to 1940. In: Eltis D, Lewis F, Sokoloff K Human Capital and Institutions: A Long-Run View. Cambridge University Press ; 2009.

Supporting Multilingual Learners in Accessing CTE Texts


Career and technical education, commonly referred to as career-tech ed or CTE, encompasses a wide array of industry-specific classes designed to enable high school students to explore career options and develop 21st-century skills for the modern workplace. Classes range from preparation for immediate post-graduation jobs not requiring college degrees such as veterinary technician and cosmetologist to more intensive and academically rigorous programs in industries like cybersecurity and business management, intended as pathways to further education. Well-designed CTE offerings integrate career and academic skill building, along with soft skills valued in contemporary work contexts, such as teamwork, communicative competence, and ethical decision making (California Department of Education, 2024).

Enrollment in CTE programs can benefit secondary multilingual learners (MLs) enormously. The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) extolls the educational virtues of CTE participation for MLs, including improved high school graduation rates and greater transition to college than their non-CTE peers. For participants from recent immigrant families, CTE programs foster valuable employer–learner connections and extended networks.

Additionally, completion of CTE programs yields employment opportunities in high-demand careers such as health care and advanced manufacturing, with competitive salaries exceeding the national median wage

Of equal importance, CTE programs provide developing English speakers engaging hands-on opportunities for relationship building and “productive talk,” in which peers work together to investigate solutions to a problem or create a product (Gregoire-Smith, 2024).

Obstacles to CTE Enrollment for Newcomers

Despite the boundless merits of CTE course enrollment for recent immigrants, institutional roadblocks can prevent aspiring multilingual candidates from enrolling in CTE programs. Newcomers, in particular, typically lack prerequisites for STEM programs while also having a daunting number of core academic courses to complete for high school graduation (Sugarman, 2023). To sustain ML participation in CTE programs, developing English speakers must complete required English language development (ELD) coursework to advance their English proficiency. Optimal CTE programs successfully pair English language instruction with occupational skill building and do not rely upon separate ELD coursework to solely shoulder the responsibility of advancing students’ English language and literacy skills (Advance CTE, 2024).

CTE Reading Barriers for Multilinguals

Multilinguals who are enrolled in CTE coursework—yet still qualify for ELD services based on their most recent English language proficiency (ELP) data—face abundant challenges while attempting to access the demanding text and vocabulary that complement the hands-on activities of CTE courses. The average CTE instructor anticipates dedicating precious instructional minutes to technical presentation and relevant practicum, with an expectation that students will handle required reading prior to class. This is an unrealistic assumption, as emergent bilinguals are not yet equipped with the English language knowledge and reading proficiency to independently tackle the highly technical and procedural manuals, reports, articles, and textbooks of CTE curricula.

To thrive in CTE coursework during secondary school and beyond, MLs deserve accommodations that promote their technical and linguistic competence along with their ability to effectively deal with course reading demands. Because high school CTE courses of all kinds are increasingly viewed as on-ramps to some form of postsecondary career training, MLs should exit their high school programs with productive coping skills for independent reading and studying of course materials as they work toward certification in their chosen careers.

School districts should prioritize equipping CTE faculty with a research-informed and productive toolkit of strategies to help less-proficient readers and MLs gain access to course texts. Experienced ELD practitioners who have supported emergent bilinguals in secondary coursework are well suited to offer professional learning and coaching for CTE colleagues. However, a brief in-service training focusing upon stages of second-language acquisition, coupled with basic recommendations to use visual cues, real objects, the Frayer model, and modified verbal delivery, will likely backfire with practicum-oriented CTE colleagues hesitant to modify their syllabi with language and literacy guidance. Educator preparedness must concentrate on evidence-based instructional practices that will be perceived as relevant, manageable, and impactful by practitioners who may be industry leaders yet lack understanding of the complexity of learning a language and content simultaneously (Advance CTE, 2022). Further, professional development providers must utilize an asset-based approach to curriculum and instruction with STEM-oriented colleagues, integrating well-designed support materials that capitalize on students’ diversity (NASEM, 2018).

Preparing MLs for CTE Reading Assignments

In this article, we will address high-leverage instructional practices promoting informational text access that can be effectively justified and demonstrated to CTE instructors and implemented across disciplines. The practical guidance we provide stems from our collective experiences working directly with high school and college faculty seeking productive ways to support English learners enrolled in their industry-focused classes. As every career-pathway curriculum includes a variety of informational texts, providing CTE educators with reading support that isn’t too labor intensive or time consuming tends to be well received. Our three areas of focus for dedicated in-class instruction are 1) text previewing, 2) supported reading aloud, and 3) teaching high-leverage vocabulary.

Strategy 1: Guide Text Previewing

To support MLs and their classmates who are equally daunted by course reading material, CTE providers can dedicate a reliable fraction of instructional time each week to helping students gain entry-level access to their focal text. Whether the course material be a traditional textbook, a safety manual, or an industry article, less-proficient readers will benefit from a hands-on, explicated walk through the assigned selection. Informational text previewing, the process of surveying the text organization and features, is a productive strategy used by successful students and professionals with heavy reading loads.

Informational text previewing helps a student reader accomplish important goals. This preliminary survey of essential features enables the reader to identify the text focus, assess the level of complexity based on the content, language, and length, and determine an appropriate reading and study plan. An inexperienced and ill-equipped high school reader is apt to forego reading altogether or start on the first page of a complex text and read a brief amount until utter confusion and exhaustion set in. Coming to class at least having previewed an assigned technical selection provides a CTE candidate with a mental outline of the material and increased odds of being able to engage in the instructor’s related presentation and hands-on practice.

Daugherty (2017) points out that common text features in STEM curricula such as headings over sections, bolded vocabulary, and visual representations help the reader identify important information presented in the material, call the reader’s attention to essential terms, and explain what technical and academic words mean. Many MLs enter CTE coursework with keen interest in acquiring practical school-to-work skills but limited experience navigating technical materials in their home language or English. A step-by-step guided tour of the week’s focal reading selection is a reasonable expectation for a CTE service provider serving a diverse student clientele, including adolescent emergent English speakers.

Steps in Guiding Text Previewing

We recommend that ELD support staff provide CTE educators with a compelling rationale for in-class text previewing and hands-on demonstration of the process. CTE colleagues in fields as diverse as nursing and computing will recall coping strategies they utilized during their career training to manage their course reading load. Prior to modeling the process of guided text previewing, consider facilitating a discussion with colleagues in small groups responding to this prompt: What process did you typically follow in your early career training to complete a demanding informational text reading and study assignment? Participants are likely to acknowledge that they completed an initial text preview to gauge the text focus, complexity, and supportive features they could rely upon to build basic understanding if time constraints made a thorough reading unlikely or impossible.

Following are some practical tips, drawing from well-received professional development endeavors:

  • Make a photocopy of the text selection to display, ideally using a document camera. This will provide a visual aid that can be marked as you offer guidance and explanations. If a core textbook is the only course reading source, provide students with a photocopy of the first chapter to practically interact with during the guided walk-through.
  • Direct students to have their copy of the focal selection in hand as you guide them through the process of reading, highlighting, and labeling each feature.
  • As you point out a key feature, audibly name it, clearly label it, and explain its function. (See Visual 1for common informational text features in CTE and STEM curricula.)
  • Read aloud the title, subtitle (if included), author’s name, publication source, and date.
  • Read aloud the introduction or abstract (if included).
  • Read each heading and clarify what the section will discuss.
  • Point out bolded topic-specific technical terms and marginal glosses with additional high-utility academic words and their meanings.
  • Look over visual representations and aids such as tables, charts, graphs, and symbols.
  • Read aloud the text conclusion, summary, or last paragraph.
  • Glance quickly at end-of-text questions.
  • Point out the most essential section(s) within the text.
  • Assign a manageable amount of follow-up reading with a realistic time frame.

Strategy 2: Supported Reading Aloud

Emergent bilinguals depend upon their teachers for classroom practices that will advance their text understanding and literacy skills. To achieve entry-level access to challenge-level text, MLs must first be able to read the content relatively fluently. Fluent reading is the ability to read print material with accurate decoding, appropriate pacing, and prosody. Prosody—that is, meaningful expression—involves suitable rhythm, intonation, stresses, and pauses for the text. Because students acquiring English approach CTE course reading material with gaps in language knowledge, they cannot be expected to achieve fluency and grasp text meaning after only one pass at a priority text section. In career-focused classes as well as core subject areas, high school faculty can provide effective models of fluent reading to support all basic readers, English learners and English speakers alike (Kinsella, 2024). 

Repeated reading is the most evidence-based practice for improving students’ fluency skills (NICHD, 2000). Repeated reading incorporates two essential elements: 1) giving students the opportunity to read and then reread the same text passage, and 2) having students practice reading orally with teacher guidance provided as needed. Understandably, CTE faculty cannot be expected to devote multiple class sessions to guided oral reading of a course text. It is a reasonable expectation, however, for a career-tech educator employed by a school district to analyze an assigned text and identify critical content for supported in-class reading. Predictable priorities for teacher-led reading are the text introduction or abstract, summary or conclusion, and a few key sections with essential content related to hands-on activities.

The oral cloze fluency routine (Harmon and Wood, 2011; Kinsella, 2024) is a research-informed instructional sequence for teacher-mediated oral reading that models fluency while assigning students an observable task of involvement. Rather than passively listening as the teacher reads aloud a text section, students follow along, silently tracking, and chime in with the word the teacher has selectively omitted within a sentence.

Students pay close attention to the teacher’s pronunciation, intonation, and timing and stay engaged because they are expected to fill in the missing word. The most struggling class readers may not be able to pronounce every omitted word,
but they will not be singled out or embarrassed and they will benefit from a skillful reading model.

Cloze Fluency Routine Defined

To build oral reading fluency and comprehension, the teacher reads aloud a text segment at a moderate pace with expression, omitting a few carefully selected strong word choices within different sentences, while students follow along silently and chime in chorally with the missing words to show they are accountably engaged in the reading process.

Steps in Using the Cloze Fluency Routine

Prepare the text: Look over the text sections you intend to read aloud and identify the words you plan to omit. Omit two to four words per paragraph, depending on the length and complexity of the text segment. Highlight strong word candidates at the ends of phrases or sentences, natural places to pause, while avoiding multisyllable words that will likely pose pronunciation difficulties. Use different colors to highlight words for the first read and a second read if time permits. Omitting words on the fly, sans preparation, may lead to poor choices that break up logical phrasing or to excessive omissions. 

Explain the task: Direct students to follow along silently as you read each sentence aloud and to chime in with the words you omit. Emphasize that you will only omit a few words, one at the beginning, middle, and end of the text segment, and that you will choose strong words (vs. prepositions, articles, etc.) you know they can pronounce. Encourage students to look carefully at the words, rather than passively listen, and use their finger, pencil, cursor, or guide card to track the text and silently follow along.

Read aloud: Read aloud at a moderate rate with enhanced expression, leaving out a few pre-taught or familiar words that come at the end of a meaningful phrase, each within a different sentence. Pause briefly after omitting a word for students to respond chorally. If some students do not chime in, or if they struggle with pronunciation of a word, clearly restate the word and repeat the sentence to get students back on track. Repeat the process as needed, picking up the pace slightly and omitting different words.

Strategy 3: Teaching High-Leverage Vocabulary

Highly targeted and persistent vocabulary instruction can dramatically improve reading ability and lesson engagement for students acquiring English as a new language (August and Shanahan, 2006). After synthesizing studies addressing English-learner academic achievement, Baker and research colleagues identified explicit instruction of prioritized curriculum-aligned words over several days as the most impactful lesson practice to support emergent bilinguals in content-area coursework (Baker et al., 2014).

Since planned, explicit vocabulary instruction has such a pedagogically defensible track record with MLs for improving reading and lesson comprehension, CTE educator preparedness must concentrate on a few viable instructional practices for addressing high-leverage technical and cross-disciplinary words within course texts. Informational texts tend to include resources and visual aids for addressing technical and topic-specific terms. While guiding the text preview, a CTE educator can point out critical boldface terms, which are typically followed by definitions, explanations, and examples. Marginal glosses highlight additional technical terms, often low-incidence words less central to the unit focus.

CTE faculty can avail themselves of visual aids and representations within their course material to address technical terms essential to the unit focus. Similarly, concrete objects and diagrams, pictures, or video embedded in presentation slides can support students in grasping the meaning and function of technical vocabulary. During demonstrations and hands-on activities, educators can highlight words in context and conscientiously emphasize pronunciations and meanings to engage students and promote retention.

To achieve basic access to current text assignments and develop adequate reading skills for future CTE coursework, MLs at all levels of English proficiency require more than clarification of essential unit technical vocabulary. Career-tech ed texts, from manuals to technical reports, are written with complex syntax and lexical precision. They include cross-disciplinary words, uncommon in casual conversation or narrative texts, that appear with regularity in technical explanations, descriptions, processes, and comparisons. The words highlighted in Visual 2 are examples of high-frequency academic words CTE candidates must learn in order to advance in their technical studies and attain a position in their desired career paths.

To navigate their CTE course materials and improve their speaking and writing skills, MLs need to develop a productive working knowledge of words that are used with regularity in professional communication in their field of study. A careful review of even a few sections of a CTE text assignment will yield a plethora of widely used academic words aligned with key language purposes for academic and professional communication. Notice the high number of cross-disciplinary nouns and verbs identified in a relatively brief three-page article “Oxyfuel Cutting: Safety Inspection” for a CTE welding course (see Visual 3). CTE educators, like their high school science, math, and social studies colleagues, must assume some responsibility for building their students’ toolkit of these cross-disciplinary words for informational text reading and writing rather than abandon them to Google Translate.

Steps in Teaching High-Utility Academic Words

Explicit, interactive vocabulary instruction has a clear goal of guiding students in gaining ownership of critical new words. The process of building productive word knowledge, the ability to use a word competently in speech, begins with actively involving students with reading, pronouncing, chorally repeating, and accurately copying the target word. To get a conceptual handle on a new academic word, students require an efficiently explained meaning conveyed in accessible language such as a familiar synonym, rather than a protracted formal definition that includes other unfamiliar words. A widely used but abstract academic word such as identify or impact may be challenging to convey with a simple sketch or concrete object. Alternatively, an illustrative example sentence, complemented by a related picture, can help students create a vivid mental image while also helping them understand how the word functions syntactically and semantically in an academic statement.

The vocabulary note-taking guide profiled in Visual 4 was prepared to explicitly introduce high-utility academic vocabulary students would encounter in a focal text within a high school CTE welding course. The guide includes key elements that should be addressed when developing precise understandings of a high-utility academic word.

Without an opportunity to see and correctly pronounce the target word, explore a relevant example, and take some form of notes for review purposes, few learners will recall the meaning or hazard using the word in the context of a future lesson. The blanks provide opportunities for students to focus on engaging in repetition and listening comprehension while taking a few important notes, including copying the word and its cognate or translation and completing the meaning and example sentence provided by the instructor. This explicit instructional process is stepped out in Visual 5, highlighting the teacher’s sequential moves and the students’ cued, accountable responses.

To support developing English speakers in competently using the word and interacting with peers, a CTE instructor can enhance the guide with a response frame. Rather than simply posing a question and hoping for voluntary responses, a response frame focusing upon a common topic deepens students’ understanding and facilitates effective application. A well-crafted response frame should include the target word in a context familiar to students, allowing for a range of ideas for successful completion. To illustrate, note in Visual 4 the diverse ways in which the response frame designed for the adjective adequate could be completed by a high school student, ranging from passing a class to being eligible for a scholarship. An added advantage of a relevant response frame is that MLs have a supported opportunity to flex their second-language muscles, be recognized by peers, and further enhance their word knowledge by actively listening to their peers’ engaging contributions.

Concluding Thoughts

We must prepare CTE educators who have the desire and skills to engage linguistically diverse students in their course literacy tasks as well as their practical applications. For many professionals newly teaching the tools of their technical trade to multilingual learners, this is unchartered territory. By integrating into professional preparedness some practical strategies for assisting ML scholars with text access, we can help our CTE colleagues create a more welcoming and successful pathway toward high school graduation and career entrance.

References

California Department of Education. (2024). “CTE Fact Sheet for School Leaders.”

Advance CTE. (2022). “Making Good on the Promise: Improving equity and access to quality CTE programs for English learners.”                                                                                                                         

Advance CTE. (2024). “Supporting English Learners in Career Technical Education.”

August, D., and Shanahan, T. (Eds). (2006). Developing Literacy in Second Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Center for Applied Linguistics.                  

Baker, S., Lesaux, N., Jayanthi, M., Dimino, J., Proctor, C. P., Morris, J., Gersten, R., Haymond, K., Kieffer, M. J., Linan-Thompson, S., and Newman-Gonchar, R. (2014). Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School (NCEE 2014-4012). US Department of Education.

Daugherty, M. K., Kindall, H. D., Carter, V., Swagerty, L. M., Wissehr, C., and Robertson, S. (2017). “Integrating Informational Text and STEM: An innovative and necessary curricular approach,” Journal of STEM Teacher Education, 52(1). doi.org/10.30707/JSTE52.1Daugherty

Gregoire-Smith, M. (2024). “Paving Pathways for Multilinguals.” Language Magazine.

Harmon, J., and Wood, K. (2010). “Variations on Round Robin Reading. Middle Ground, 14(2).

Kinsella, K. (2024). “Supporting Multilingual Learners in Developing Reading Fluency across the School Day.” Language Magazine.

NASEM. (2018). English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives. National Academies Press.

NICHD. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read.

Sugarman, J. (2023). “Unlocking Opportunities: Supporting English learners’ equitable access to career and technical education.” Migration Policy.

Kate Kinsella, EdD (drkate@drkatekinsella.com) has served as the pedagogy guide on three recent US Department of Education–funded research initiatives focused upon advancing achievement of K–12 multilingual learners. The author of researched-informed curricula supporting English language development, including English 3D and READ 180, she provides training and consultancy throughout the US to equip colleagues with understandings and skills to educate MLs with respect and efficacy.

Jennifer Finney-Ellison, MSEd (jennifer@teachingwithjen.com) is a teacher educator and ELD curriculum writer with extensive experience in providing professional learning, coaching, and consultancy to K–12 educators and agencies across the US. She is the co-author of a research-informed ELD curriculum, English 3D, Grades K–3.

Canadian Communities Welcome French-Speaking Students and Immigrants

As new restrictions on international students are introduced, Canada is redoubling its efforts to welcome French-speaking newcomers who will enrich the linguistic, social, cultural, and economic fabric of Francophone minority communities (FMCs).

Marc Miller, minister of immigration, refugees, and citizenship, recently launched the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot (FMCSP) program in partnership with designated French-language and bilingual postsecondary learning institutions (DLIs). Minister Miller also announced the addition of ten communities to the Welcoming Francophone Communities (WFC) initiative. The minister made these announcements on the occasion of the Acadian World Congress, in Nova Scotia.

Canada recognizes that large pools of French-speaking international students exist in Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas, and that the study permit approval rate in these regions has been low in the past. The new pilot program is intended to make access to Canada’s International Student Program fairer for a wide range of international students.

The pilot program is a flagship measure of the Policy on Francophone Immigration announced earlier this year and will benefit FMCs by helping them attract and retain international students. To improve the approval rate, students and their families will be exempted from having to demonstrate that they will leave Canada at the end of their temporary stay. In addition, the required financial threshold will be adjusted to reflect 75% of the low-income cut-off associated with the municipality where the institution’s main campus is located.

Pilot program participants will also benefit from a direct pathway from temporary to permanent status after obtaining their diploma, and they will have access to settlement services while they’re studying to help them integrate successfully into their communities. With their proficiency in French and their Canadian education, graduates will be able to contribute to the Canadian labor market and enrich FMCs across the country.

Although an annual cap for most study permit applications was established in January, the FMCSP is not included in the overall cap. Each participating DLI will be allocated a limited number of acceptance letters that can be issued for the purpose of processing study permits under the pilot program.

The maximum number of study permit applications that Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will accept under the pilot program is 2,300 for the first year. A cap for the second year of the pilot program will be set by August 2025.

“The WFC initiative is an eloquent example of the commitment of Francophone and Acadian communities to the overall success of immigrants.

“Over the past five years, numerous leaders and volunteers have mobilized locally to create new services for French-speaking immigrants. They have set up activities to promote living together and inclusion and have strengthened the attractiveness of our communities with the aim of increasing Francophone immigration,” commented Liane Roy, president of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA).

Welsh and Irish Unite in Song

On World Translation Day (Monday, September 30, 2024) members of Wales’s largest youth organization, Urdd Gobaith Cymru, and Irish youth project TG Lurgan joined forces to release a new cover of Florence and the Machine’s hit song “Dog Days Are Over”—in a mix of both the Irish and Welsh languages (www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoNznPzw8Mg).

Their collaboration releases, which began during the COVID-19 shutdown, have received over a million views across video and music streaming services.

In January 2021, members of the Urdd and TG Lurgan released the first-ever music video in both the Welsh and Irish languages, “Golau’n Dallu / Dallta as na Solise,” an adaption of the popular song “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd.

In August, 400 young people from TG Lurgan and 30 from the Urdd attended the summer school Coláiste Lurgan in Connemara in western Ireland to record this latest release, before performing in a live concert.

At the core of this collaboration is a shared vision of showcasing minority languages as the living and breathing entities that they are, ensuring that young people are given the confidence to use Welsh and Irish in everyday life. Harnessing the creative outputs of this collaboration also brings this vision to a global audience, a core objective of the Ireland–Wales Shared Statement.

Mali Thomas, director of communications and international relations at Urdd Gobaith Cymru, explained their objectives: “At the Urdd we believe that Cymraeg (the Welsh language) belongs to everyone, and we know how important the Irish language is to the people of Ireland. The Urdd and TG Lurgan have a shared vision—by showcasing both languages as the dynamic and relevant languages they are, we’re giving young people the confidence to use them widely in their everyday life. What better medium than pop music to spread the word and widen the appeal? To continue this project is hugely exciting for us and we already look forward to future collaborations with TG Lurgan.”

Speaking about the musical collaboration, Mícheál Ó Foighil, director of TG Lurgan, added: “The Lurgan–Urdd project is of significant importance to us, and we are delighted to continue to strengthen our partnership. This project is a symbol of the deep cultural ties between our two countries. It shows how we can learn from each other and emphasizes the strength and increasing relevance of our languages, breaking down language barriers in an ever-changing physical and online world. This latest event not only demonstrates the talent of young people from Lurgan and Wales, but also the deep affection they hold for their native culture and arts.”

Russian Push in Africa Accompanies Unrest

In Niger and Burkina Faso (West Africa), Russian-language billboards began to appear after Russian-backed coups booted out US and French soldiers in 2022 and 2023. Nearby in Nigeria, a massive citizen protest in August against corruption and a cost-of-living crisis saw ominous signs of youths waving Russian flags, sparking concerns that the Kremlin’s sophisticated disinformation projects were in the mix too. The USSR was an eager supplier of weapons and political support for many African nations fighting anti-colonialism wars in the 1960s and 1970s. Yet the Russian language didn’t make a big foray into the African continent compared to French and English. When the anti-colonial struggles waned, local interest in the Russian language practically ended.

“Moscow support ended at supplying weapons and training for anti-colonialism guerillas. Very few Africans, steeped in traditions of Arabic, English, and French colonialism, were eager to learn the Russian language,” says political analyst Kimberly Mutandiro in South Africa. The fall of the Soviet Union, too, meant Moscow didn’t have much money to spread its language projects across Africa—a vast continent of 52 countries—unlike in Central Europe and Eurasia, where Russian-language cultures were already rooted.

As Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on in its third year, Moscow is keen to retain diplomatic support across Africa as a bulwark against fierce rebuke in Europe and the US. So, Moscow has widened its battle against Ukraine and the West to a distant theater—Africa. Russia and its notorious Wagner mercenaries are backing a wave of anti-Western coups by militaries in Africa, displacing civilian governments in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. Meanwhile, Russian language campaigns are creeping up in other African countries, a sign of Moscow’s sophisticated soft power. For example, in Niger, a poster child of pro-Russia coup regimes, a Russian language center opened in the capital, Niamey. Its name is Center for Russian Language and Culture “Russian Space,” announced the Sputnik news outlet. In September, the Russian diplomatic mission in Niger followed up with the offer of free Russian language classes for any citizen wishing to take up the language.

Not to be outdone, in another country where Moscow backed an anti-West coup, the Burkinabe government announced in April that Russian language lessons would be rolled out in local schools. In Mali, another West African state where Russian-backed coup-generals are in power, the People’s Friendship University of Russia opened a Russian language academy at country’s biggest university in December 2023.

“It’s an overdo, but Moscow is eyeing the long game,” political analyst Batsi Mashiza says of the sprint to open Russian language academies across Africa. Russia is eyeing critical minerals in unstable African countries and at the same time solidifying the diplomatic support it gets from African states in its battle against Ukraine. Ray Mwareya

Puerto Rico Receives World’s Second Cervantes Chair


During his recent visit to Puerto Rico, Luis García Montero, director of Spain’s Cervantes Institute, announced that the University of Puerto Rico would now be home to a new Cervantes Chair of the institution, the second in the world, after the one in Edinburgh, Scotland.

García Montero described the inauguration as “another great step” for “common learning, collaboration, and strengthening ties with Spanish-speaking countries.”

The agreement was signed in late September with the rector of the University of Puerto Rico-Ríos Piedras Campus (UPRRP), Angélica Varela Llavona, creating the Cervantes Chair, which will be directed by the Puerto Rican writer Luis Rafael Sánchez. “This chair means a lot and we understood its importance immediately. On the one hand, the recognition of great names that make our culture, like Luis Rafael Sánchez, but also the importance of the University of Puerto Rico, its quality and reference,” said the director of Cervantes.

The new professor was grateful to be part of this “transatlantic adventure,” while noting that it is the first to be created in Latin America. “My heart, overflowing with honorable and contented puertorriqueñidad, is grateful,” he added.

For her part, Angélica Varela described it as an “immense honor” to host this new chair: “This confirms the place of our university on the international map of Spanish studies, while reinforcing our commitment to academic and cultural excellence.”

Sharjah Shows Passion for Arabic

Sharjah, the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, recently hosted the third International Forum of Arabic Language Teachers at its University City.

The forum showcased distinguished educational experiences in teaching the Arabic language at both local and international levels and explored the best ways of utilizing technology tools and artificial intelligence techniques in language education through innovative and unique methods.

During the opening ceremony, Dr. Muhadditha Al Hashimi, chairperson of Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA) and president of the Sharjah Education Academy, announced the launch of Passion for Arabic, which is Sharjah’s approach to teaching and learning Arabic for native speakers and nonnative speakers. She explained that this name was derived from the passion of the educational community—including mothers, fathers, teachers, and students—for the Arabic language.

She stated, “The letter sheen signifies inclusivity in caring for and meeting the needs of Arabic language learners. The letter ghayn refers to instilling a sense of belonging, loyalty, and commitment to the values and traditions represented by the Arabic language. As for the letter Fa, it represents the diverse arts and contemporary tools with references from dictionaries and sources, deepened by research and scientific studies, to sustain the love for the Arabic language.”

Dr. Al Hashimi highlighted in her speech a number of recent achievements made by the authority in the field of the Arabic language, including the results of the standardized Arabic language proficiency tests TALA for native speakers, which assess progress in reading comprehension and writing skills. Students in Sharjah’s private schools in the academic year 2023–24 achieved levels above average in all educational stages.

She announced the launch of the digital Arabic language library initiative, as an extension of the “Read, You Are in Sharjah” campaign initiated by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi. She also announced the authority’s launch of an exceptional award named the Arabic Language Gem within the 29th Sharjah Award for Educational Excellence. This award, competed for by all state and private schools in the country, aims to enhance the Arabic language and empower the entire educational community to possess Arabic language skills and apply them in the fields of science and life.

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