The state of Virginia has a total enrollment of 1,263,660 students in grades K-12 in the state public school system. 99,897 of them are English Language Learners making up 7.9% of the student population as of years 2012-2013. The vast majority of ELL students in Virginia speak Spanish, with Arabic, Vietnamese, Urdu, and Korean rounding out the top five other languages that are most prevalent among this segment of the school system.
The following is a list of useful resources and programs for ELL students living in Virginia.
State of Virginia Informational Resources:
- Virginia Department of Education: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/
- ELL Support Page: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/esl/index.shtml
- WIDA English Language Development Standards: https://www.wida.us/standards/eld.aspx
- WIDA (World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment) is an organization comprised of a number of various states designed to establish and implement bilingual education policies, in addition to the regular monitoring of progress and development of ELL’s in the United States.
- Virginia Proficiency Learning Standards Proficiency Examination Program: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/test_administration/index.shtml
- Title III Information: http://www.ncela.us/t3sis/Virginia.php
Educational Programs and Learning Resources:
- Virginia State Education Association – Regional affiliate of the National Education Association, the biggest education lobby in the United States, tasked with promoting legislation to support teachers and educators and make new funding resources available to the education profession: http://www.nea.org/home/49818.htm
- Virginia Parent Information Resource Center – PEATC (Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center) – A federal program designed for promoting successful teaching partnerships between parents, teachers, and school administrations to improve the educational structure for children in grades K-12 from all backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities and/or disabilities: http://www.nationalpirc.org/directory/VA.html
- Lectura Books Professional Development Workshops – Training workshops designed to assist educators and school administrations with implementing aspects of the Latino Family Literacy Project, which meets compliance with Title I and Title III Parent involvement initiatives: https://www.latinoliteracy.com/workshops/
- Latino Family Literacy Project School and District Staff Development Workshops – Teaching workshops designed for helping parents and teachers alike to help Spanish-speaking children learn English to build their literacy and vocabulary skills, while instructing school districts how to work with Spanish-speaking families in order for their children to excel academically: https://www.lecturabooks.com/professional-development/
- https://www.lecturabooks.com/product/house-literacy-elementary-collection” target=”_blank”>The House of Literacy Book Set – Available in Pre-School and Elementary levels, these collections contain of books are designed to help parents of ELLs read to their children in Spanish while providing an opportunity towards improving English language vocabulary skills. These sets encourage parental involvement in the English Language education of their children: https://www.lecturabooks.com/product/house-of-literacy-preschool-collection/
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References
https://www.lecturabooks.com/product/house-literacy-elementary-collection/