Educators from across California came to Stockton for the launch of the 2014 English Language Arts/English Language Development (ELA/ELD) Framework at an event organized by the California Department of Education (CDE) and the San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE).
The conference attended by teachers, instructional coaches and administrators on Monday, June 1, 2015 was the latest in a series of launch events since the California Board of Education adopted the framework last July to support the implementation of the California Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy and the California ELD Standards.
The framework’s co-authors joined other experts in a day of workshops that would prepare the 350 educators who attended the conference at SJCOE on Monday, to bring what they learned back to schools throughout California.
The framework is a roadmap educators follow to bring the standards into the classroom, from before kindergarten on through high school. California’s ELA/ELD Framework is the first in the nation to integrate the two interrelated sets of standards into one guiding document.
“This is the first time ever that English Language Arts and English Language Development have been combined into a single framework. It ensures that we teach literacy not just in ELA/ELD but across all content areas,” said Jane Steinkamp, SJCOE Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services. “This comprehensive approach to language and literacy will benefit all students as they learn to read, write, communicate and prepare themselves for college, careers and civic life.”
While all students will receive a rigorous, standards-based 21st-Century education, attention to the specific needs of English learners (ELs) is woven throughout. “English Language Development is no longer treated as isolated content,” Steinkamp said. Effective instruction for ELs is discussed in depth, and guidance on implementing both integrated and designated ELD is provided.
The day began with introductions from Steinkamp as well as from Tom Adams, CDE Director of Curriculum Frameworks & Instructional Resources Division; and Jo Ann Isken, Chair of the California State Board of Education’s Instructional Quality Commission.
Presenters at the conference included framework co-authors: Pam Spycher, Senior Research Associate at the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd; and Nancy Brynelson and Hallie Yopp Slowik, both Co-Directors of the Center for the Advancement of Reading, California State University Chancellor’s Office.
Karin Linn-Nieves, Director of SJCOE’s newly formed Language and Literacy Department, has been part of the CDE’s statewide rollout team that presented on Monday. All of the professional learning her department provides is grounded in the framework.
“The most exciting thing for us is that both the teachers and their students that we have been working with on framework implementation have been very enthusiastic about what is happening in their classrooms,” she said.
Linn-Nieves believes the ELA/ELD Framework has the potential to impact teaching and learning in profound ways in the coming years for all students.
(Pictured, from left, Framework Co-authors Nancy Brynelson, Pam Spycher and Hallie Yopp Slowik.)