RBERN West Newsletter

The January 2022 administration of the High School Regents Examination Program is cancelled due to the ongoing COVID–19 pandemic, State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced today. This cancellation applies to all Regents Examinations that had been scheduled for the January 2022 Regents Examination period. No decisions have been made regarding the June and August 2022 administrations of Regents Examinations or any other State assessment programs.

NYSED's Office of Curriculum and Instruction hosted a one-hour webcast to present materials and resources designed for the standards transition, which begins in Fall of 2022.

The State Education Department proposes to modify teacher certification requirements to reduce barriers to certification while maintaining rigorous standards, Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced today. The proposed changes would eliminate the requirement for teacher candidates to pass the edTPA and replace it with a teacher performance assessment during a candidate’s student teaching or similar clinical experience in a New York State-registered teacher preparation program.

Public comment on the proposal will be accepted through February 28, 2022 via oheregcomments@nysed.gov. It is anticipated the proposed amendment will be presented to the Board of Regents for adoption at the April 2022 meeting. If the Board adopts the proposal, New York State-registered teacher preparation programs would have until September 1, 2023 to integrate a teacher performance assessment into teacher candidates’ student teaching or similar clinical experience.

Education Department Announces Additional Virtual Regional Information Meetings to Discuss Review of Graduation Measures in New York State

The virtual meetings are an integral part of Phase I in the Board and Department’s review of graduation measures and will offer opportunities for stakeholders and members of the public to share input.

• The Buffalo area is encouraged to join one of the meetings with Regent Catherine Collins on January 27th from 2:00-4:30pm (register here) or February 3rd from 2:00-4:30pm (registration info forthcoming).
• Additionally, stakeholders are encouraged to participate in a virtual Thought Exchange on graduation requirement. Click HERE to Access Thought Exchange.

In this edition, you can find the following articles:

• Letter from the Associate Commissioner
• 2022 World Language Professional Learning Series
• Workshop Facilitation Guides
• Unit Plan Exemplar Development Program for World Languages at the Checkpoint A Level
• NYSSB Notification Forms
• NYSSB Briefs in Multiple Languages
• and more!

Level 1 Student Inquiry Report

For administrators with access to the Level 1 Data Warehouse, they can run the Student Inquiry Report for any student in a district they have access to. When run for multiple years, this report will show the history of the student at that school. This report will also pull in the historical assessment results (including NYSITELL, NYSESLAT, and ELA exams) for a student including assessments taken at other districts, as long as the student tested somewhere in WNYRIC's data warehouse region: WNYRIC, Monroe, GST, Edutech, Southcentral RIC, and Mid-Hudson RIC districts, including Buffalo and Rochester.

Therefore, if a student tested somewhere within one of those regions, their assessment scores will show up on this report. The other data sets will only return information from the district that is running the report (enrollment, program service, attendance, etc.), from years the student was enrolled at that school. The data will populate in this report one day after the district sends demographic and enrollment data through the system. Districts are allowed a number of users based on the amount of buildings they have.

In November 2021, the State released a Level 2 SIRS report that is call the SIRS 750 Student Profile Report. This report will show the entire history for any student for all years that they were enrolled in a NY school. Districts typically have several people that have access to these Level 2 (L2RPT) reports. This is the most comprehensive tool a district can use to see enrollment, program services, and assessment results from multiple NYS districts. This report is refreshed weekly by the state.

For any questions regarding student data, please send them to dataview@e1b.org

The Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages is proud to announce the first five workshops in the 2022 World Language Professional Learning Series. These online workshops are offered free of charge for world language educators and administrators working or studying in New York State schools, colleges, universities, BOCES/RBERNs, or other educational institutions. All workshops will take place from 4:00-5:00 p.m., so that educators can attend. Participants who attend these workshops via Zoom may earn a certificate of attendance or a certificate documenting CTLE credit. Recordings are made of all large-group workshops. Those who are unable to attend the virtual workshops may earn a certificate, including for CTLE credit, by watching the recording and earning a score of at least 7/10 on a post assessment.

Registration for these workshops is now open. Please note that registration for all workshops closes 48 hours prior to the event. There is no same-day registration. Only pre-registered attendees will be admitted into the workshops. Once the registrant's email address has been verified as being from a New York State educational institution, an email confirming registration will be sent. No registration is necessary to view the recordings of these workshops.

Understanding Vocabulary Development in Standards-Based Teaching

January 13, 2022 from 4pm-5pm

Vocabulary knowledge is the key to communication. No one can understand or be understood without it. In this session, participants will examine the role of vocabulary learning in proficiency development and explore the importance of vocabulary development in designing and implementing thematic units. Participants will learn research-informed strategies for identifying, presenting, and spiraling vocabulary to facilitate acquisition.

Register here!

Understanding the Role of Grammar in Proficiency Development Parts 1 & 2

February 24, 2022 & March 3, 2022 from 4pm-5pm

Increasing control of grammatical structures is essential to language proficiency development. Participants will first discover how proficiency descriptors for checkpoint proficiency targets and the language functions embedded in each of the NYS Learning Standards for World Languages help teachers identify which language structures to include in thematic unit design and implementation. Participants will then explore strategies that draw on both implicit and explicit approaches to help learners develop increasing control of grammatical structures.

Register here!

Understanding Standards-Based Lesson Planning

March 31, 2022 from 4pm-5pm

Developing a logical sequence of engaging lessons is the key to realizing the objectives of thematic unit plans that facilitate learner success and growth in proficiency. In this session, participants will explore ways to envision, design, and implement a variety of lesson plan types. Each integrates the standards in natural and meaningful ways that will engage learners and promote proficiency development.

Register here!

Preparing for Standards-Based Curriculum Planning

May 19, 2022 from 4pm-5pm

Vertical and horizontal curriculum alignment is critical to helping learners make continuous growth in proficiency. Intentional sequencing of rich thematic units creates learning experiences that are relevant to learners’ interests and appropriate to checkpoint proficiency targets. Vertical articulation spirals proficiency development and recycles and reinforces high-frequency vocabulary and grammatical structures. In this session, participants will examine templates to help analyze and sequence thematic units across the checkpoints. Presenters will also demonstrate tools that can be used to assess how well the curriculum addresses the revised NYS Learning Standards for World Languages, their embedded language functions, and NYS World Language themes and topics.

Register here!

**NEW EVENTS ADDED**

Please check back regularly for updates to our year-long PD calendar.

SESSION 1: BEYOND CRISES: OVERCOMING LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL INEQUITIES

IN COMMUNITIES, SCHOOLS AND CLASSROOMS

• Date: January 8th, 2022
• PRESENTER: DR. DEBBIE ZACARIAN

SESSION 2: TEACHING TO STRENGTHS:

SUPPORTING STUDENTS LIVING WITH TRAUMA, VIOLENCE, AND CHRONIC STRESS

• Date: January 22nd, 2022
• PRESENTER: DR. LOURDES ALVAREZ-ORTIZ

SESSION 3: TEACHING TO EMPOWER: TAKING ACTION TO FOSTER STUDENT AGENCY, REFLECTION AND COLLABORATION

• February 5th, 2022
• PRESENTER: Dr. DEBBIE ZACARIAN

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

For more information, contact: nycrbern@fordham.edu

Erie 1 BOCES CSLO is happy to announce a new offering for educators called the Educator Hour. Educator Hours are free one hour long regional sessions that promote the exploration and engagement of local cultural centers in the Western New York region. All Educator Hours are designed to provide educators with new tools and materials to connect back to their school, classroom, and curriculum in any content area.

All Educator Hours are offered after school hours to remove the need for substitutes and sub plans. CTLE credit will be awarded for each session.

Cultural locations being visited for the 2021-2022 school year include Shea’s Performing Arts Center, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, WNY Book Arts Center, and the Albright-Knox Northland.

For more information and links to register for each hour, visit https://sites.google.com/e1b.org/e1beducatorhour/home.

Any questions can be directed to Dan Lynch at dslynch@e1b.org.

Support English Language Learners
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 2:00 CT
Strengthen collaborative support of English Language Learners and their families with the resources and tools on TeachingBooks.
Register

Congratulations to Susan Locke Scott on her retirement, January 5th. Sue, as she is more commonly called, has been with Erie 1 BOCES for 25 years. Most recently, she has served as Manager for the Regional Partnership Center (RPC). She began her career at Erie 1 BOCES as a Coordinator in SETRC (Special Education Training Resource Center) and over time was promoted to her current leadership position. Although the name of her state-funded program has changed over the years, her commitment to excellence has never wavered.

A prolific grant writer, Sue has successfully ascertained many state and federal grants to support the needs of students and individuals with a disability. Her team grew from a total of 3 to a team of more than 17 professionals organized to tackle the most vulnerable students in the RPC service region. She is recognized locally and statewide as an experienced and exceptional leader in the field of Special Education.

In Western New York State, Sue collaborated vigorously on behalf of Student(s) with a Disability (SwD) who are also identified as an English Language Learner (ELL). If the RBERN West has been effective, it is because of the close and successful partnership we have shared with the Western RPC under her careful guidance.

Sue has always been steadfast in her belief that, we as educators of students with a disability are the ones charged with adapting our instructional practices and securing policies that best support our students’ needs. To love fully without any conditions has been her faithful advocacy position. On behalf of our SwDs and ELL students who you have championed over many years, THANK YOU!

Email us your story and submit a picture so we can honor the contributions of our dedicated WNY educators, administrators, and community members in our monthly newsletter. Send all submissions to Mike Duffy at mjduffy@e1b.org

The Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network West is part of a statewide system of support, funded by the NYSED Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBE-WL).

Mission: Collaborate with educators, parents, and community members to promote academic excellence and ensure high school graduation for all multilingual learners.

Vision: A community that provides access to an excellent and equitable education for multilingual learners that prepares them to be prosperous participants of a free and democratic society.

Email: rbernwest@e1b.org
Website: www.rbernwest.e1b.org
Location: 355 Harlem Road, Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone: (716)821-7531
Twitter: @RBERNwest