National Charter School Resource Center Launches Webinar Series to Aid ELL Education

The National Charter School Resource Center (Resource Center) will initiate on February 22, 2012, a series of webinars to help provide the charter school community with the tools and knowledge needed to effectively serve English language learners.

“As the population of English language learners (ELLs) grows, charter schools face an increasing challenge to help ELLs improve their English proficiency and meet the same high standards for academic achievement expected of all students,” said Kelly Sparks, Director of the Resource Center.

The 2012 webinar series, Building the Capacity of Charter School Educators to Effectively Serve English Language Learners, is designed to be useful for experienced stakeholders as well as those just entering the field.

The first webinar, Connecting Research About Literacy to Practice: Helping English Language Learners to Meet the Common Core State Standards, will be February 22, 2012, from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. The featured presenter will be Diane August, Ph.D., a nationally recognized education expert with extensive background in the development of language and literacy in second-language learners.

The second webinar, Exemplary Programs for Secondary Newcomer English Language Learners, will be held on February 23, 2012, from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. The featured presenter will be Deborah Short, Ph.D., a senior research associate affiliated with the Center for Applied Linguistics and author of the recent report Helping Newcomer Students Succeed in Secondary Schools and Beyond.

There is no registration fee. Register now for upcoming webinars in the ELL series. The registration page will be updated throughout 2012 as new webinar topics are posted and others are archived.

For additional information, please contact Peggie Garcia at 312-288-7642 or pgarcia@air.org. Garcia is leading the Resource Center’s ELL initiative.