The classrooms of today were not originally designed to be spaces where diverse students like English learners (ELs) could thrive. Educators of ELs are now faced with the unique challenges and opportunities that come with providing the specialized strategies necessary to support students' language development, backgrounds, and academic success - often without the appropriate professional development and resources this requires. As the number of ELs grows, educators need the right tools to effectively meet these students' needs and ensure their success in and out of the classroom.

Each year, Ellevation hosts IMPACT, a free virtual conference for educators of English learners (ELs). The theme for the conference this year is Paving the way: Strengthening spaces where EL students can thrive. IMPACT 2024 has been carefully designed to respond to the most pressing challenges facing EL educators today; read on to find out what attendees can expect to takeaway and how you can secure your spot at the conference today.

Supporting special populations like Newcomers and long-term English learners (LTELs)

The challenge: The entire EL student population is far from homogeneous, bringing many unique experiences to consider during instruction - and two particular subgroups that educators often want additional support for are newcomers and LTELs. The number of newcomers, or students who recently arrived in the US with limited or no English proficiency, continues to grow each year. Without proper support, they may struggle to integrate socially and academically, and are at high risk for dropout and emotional stress. Similarly, LTELs, or students who have been in an EL program in US schools for several years but have not reached proficiency, require targeted support and interventions. And educators deserve access to training and resources to offer instructional support to meet their needs.

At IMPACT 2024, we will be hosting several sessions targeted at creating more supportive spaces where newcomers and LTELs can thrive. In our session Build Bridges to Success for LTELs, experts from Ellevation will provide hands-on strategies for supporting the LTELs you serve and leveraging the wealth of cultural and linguistic assets they bring to school. We will be offering several newcomer-focused sessions that address a variety of levels of support – from leveraging families to addressing their unique emotional needs.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and trauma-informed teaching

The challenge:  Many English learners come from backgrounds that involve migration, economic hardship, family separation, and other potentially traumatic experiences. In order for students to be able to learn and thrive in the classroom, they need to feel both physically and psychologically safe. Their lived-experiences may require more trauma-informed teaching strategies to transition successfully into their learning environment, but teachers often lack training in these areas.

We will be offering a session at the upcoming IMPACT Conference hosted by Dr. Marie Heath, who has extensively researched acculturation for immigrant adolescents and contributing factors for successful bilingual and bicultural integration. In her session, Beyond SEL: Harnessing a Bicultural Superpower Identity through Literacy, she will explore the vital link between acculturation and academic success. Session participants will have the opportunity to learn research-based strategies to foster resilience and empower EL students to harness their identities and lived experiences through reflective literacy activities. IMPACT 2024 will also offer a session titled Supporting Multilingual Students from Trauma-Affected Backgrounds: Top 5 Actionable Strategies, highlighting five actionable strategies all designed to integrate seamlessly into daily practice and provide attendees with the specialized training necessary to recognize and support ELs from trauma-affected backgrounds.

Parent engagement and empowerment

The challenge: Families are crucial stakeholders in achieving student success, especially when they have unique needs that have not been historically met in traditional classroom settings. Language and cultural differences, limited resources, and communication barriers can pose challenges for educators to have consistent communication with EL families, and under-involvement of this group can impact academic performance and social-emotional challenges for students.

Yvonne Williams and Amy King from WCEPS will be presenting Strengthening Connections with Families of Newcomers to Achieve Academic Success, where they will offer valuable insights and solutions on strengthening connections with families of ELs and particularly newcomers in their session at IMPACT 2024. The session will highlight culturally responsive approaches and tools that educators can use to build or improve collaboration with parents and leave attendees with actionable insights to implement in the classroom.

Lack of data-driven professional learning

The challenge: Data is crucial to inform instruction and is the key to revealing specific areas where English learners are struggling – both academically and linguistically. But when educators lack the resources and training to collect, analyze, and act on this data, they miss opportunities to tailor instruction based on individual student opportunities for growth. They may not be able to provide targeted interventions or measure the impact of their instruction, which can lead to widened achievement gaps for ELs.

In the upcoming IMPACT Conference, educators can attend Empowering Educators: Data-Driven Pathways to Success led by Rocio Figueroa that is designed to address these exact challenges and shed light on how educators can use data to strengthen their support for the multilingual learners. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore practical strategies for using data to guide professional learning and foster student growth.

For the past four years, the annual IMPACT Conference has been widely received as a valuable opportunity for educators of ELs from all backgrounds and experience levels to find high-quality sessions on the topics that are the most relevant to the current EL education landscape. This year offers some of our most powerful sessions and speakers yet - sign up now to reserve your spot.