ESL Symposium to Provide Academic, Legal Information for Educators

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Speakers at this year’s ESL Symposium sponsored by the University of Arkansas on Feb. 26 will cover both academic and legal aspects of teaching English-language learners.

Educators who attend the daylong symposium Friday, Feb. 26, at the Clarion Inn in Fayetteville can earn six hours of professional development credit. Pre-service teachers and other university students are also encouraged to attend at a reduced cost. Cost and registration form are available online for the symposium sponsored by the department of curriculum and instruction and the Northwest Arkansas Education Renewal Zone, both based in the university’s College of Education and Health Professions.

The symposium addresses a growing challenge for area school districts. From 1999 to 2006, the state of Arkansas experienced a 121 percent increase in the number of students identified as being limited in English proficiency, according to the Arkansas Department of Education.

The symposium is one of several efforts by the university to assist local school districts with this challenge. Organizers of the symposium also developed a proposal funded in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Education to help Springdale teachers earn English as a second language endorsement. The federal grant of $1.3 million over five years funds Project Teach Them All, a partnership between the university and the Springdale School District.

Two nationally known speakers headline this year’s ESL Symposium.

Eugene Garcia, vice president for University-School Partnerships at Arizona State University, was previously dean of the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at Arizona State and the University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Education. His address will cover academic aspects of English as a second language instruction in “Achievement Gap Reduction Strategies for ELL Students and Teacher and Families Partnering for Academic Success.”

Garcia conducts research in the areas of effective schooling for linguistically and culturally diverse student populations funded by the National Science Foundation, and he chaired the National Task Force on Early Education for Hispanics funded by the Foundation for Child Development. His books include Hispanic Education in the United States: Raíces y Alas, Student Cultural Diversity: Understanding and Meeting the Challenge and Teaching and Learning in Two Languages.

The other keynote speaker, Roger Rosenthal, an attorney who serves as executive director of Washington, D.C.-based Migrant Legal Action Program Inc., will discuss “Understanding the Legal Rights of Immigrant Students in Arkansas.”

For more than 23 years at the Migrant Legal Action Program, Rosenthal has worked extensively on public school access and social services for immigrants and English-language learners. During his presentation, Rosenthal will address practical day-to-day issues that arise with school admission, working with non-English-speaking parents, the design of ESL programs, and the like. He recognizes the opportunities and challenges presented for districts experiencing major student demographic changes.