Thank you for subscribing to DSF Consulting’s Monthly Newsletter. April 2012 brought several new opportunities for us to have a positive impact on the equitable education of English learners.

Some of our most exciting news is that we will be developing four plenary session presentations for the Florida Department of Education on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English learners. Drs. Diane Staehr Fenner and Ayanna Cooper will present to approximately 10,000 educators at Florida’s Summer Institute in June and July 2012. Diane and Ayanna will also develop and provide four additional breakout sessions that apply strategies for ELs to access the content of the Common Core through scaffolding an English language arts lesson for ELs so that they can access its content.

Along those same lines, the American Federation of Teachers has also asked us to provide support to design materials related to the implementation of the CCSS for ELs. We’re designing theoretical materials and fleshing out practical examples of what the application of research-based strategies may look like in order for teachers and administrators to develop CCSS-based content lessons that are inclusive of ELs.

We have been asked to provide technical assistance to the SEED Foundation to ensure that English learners are an integral part of the expanding network of SEED Schools’ unique boarding school environment for students in Grades 6-12. There are currently SEED Schools in Washington, DC and Maryland; two more will open in Ohio and Florida will open soon.

Diane was asked to co-author a chapter with Dr. Darina Walsh, ESOL Coordinator of Fairfax County Public Schools, for an upcoming book on designing standards-based instruction that builds ELs’ academic language in the content areas. The book will be edited by two prominent authors for Corwin Press. We’ll share more information after it becomes public.

Finally, Diane is continuing to make progress on her book on advocacy for English learners, which is also being published by Corwin in early 2013.

Thank you for your interest in DSF Consulting!