NYSESLAT 2022 - Streaming Option for Listening Section
The Office of State Assessment (OSA) and our contractor, MetriTech, are pleased to advise you of an added convenience for test administrators. Beginning with the Spring 2022 administration, schools will have the option of streaming the audio for the Listening sections of the NYSESLAT for Grades 3-12 or using the Listening Test CDs that, as in past years, will be included with the shipments of the NYSESLAT testing materials. The ability to stream the Listening component of the NYSESLAT will enable schools to play the audio for the Listening sections without using a CD player, should the school find this new option preferable. The use of the online access to the audios may also allow for greater accessibility and better sound quality. This streaming option is being made available in response to suggestions made by NYS educators following recent years’ administrations. However, schools that find the traditional CD option satisfactory may continue to use this method for the NYSESLAT administration and need not request the online streaming option.
SAT is Going Digital
College Board announced that the SAT Suite of Assessments is going digital. The transition to the full digital SAT Suite will occur in phases over the next two years, beginning with the spring 2023 launch of the digital SAT in international test centers, followed by the PSAT/NMSQT and the PSAT 8/9 in fall 2023. Finally, the PSAT 10 and the SAT will be administered digitally in U.S. test centers and through SAT School Day in spring 2024. I wanted to provide you with some resources and information to help you answer any questions you may receive.
- Here is a link to our website about the digital SAT, which includes an FAQ page: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/digital
- Here is a link to our official press release: Press Release
- Priscilla Rodriguez, College Board’s head of the SAT program, shares how students can expect an easier testing experience. https://youtu.be/rPFseETCcKo
Frequently Asked Questions Related to the Cancellation of the January 2022 New York State (NYS) High School Regents Examinations
Scholarships for Academic Excellence (SAE)
Pending the appropriation of State funds during the 2022 session of the New York State Legislature, approximately 8,000 scholarships will be awarded to the top high school students graduating from New York State high schools in June 2022:
- Each scholarship candidate must be eligible to graduate from a New York State high school by the end of the 2021-2022 school year.
- To utilize to use the benefits of this scholarship, the winner must be in attendance as a full-time, matriculated student at an approved New York State postsecondary institution by the Fall 2022 semester.
- The Senator Jose Peralta NYS DREAM Act allows undocumented and other eligible students to apply for New York State financial aid programs provided they meet the eligibility requirements.
- High Schools must complete and submit their Nomination Summary Form and Application Form(s) to the New York State Education Department.
- The deadline to apply is February 14, 2022.
- Questions can be directed to: (518) 474-3719 or email: scholar@nysed.gov.
NYSED OBEWL January Newsletter
In this edition, you can find the following articles:
- Letter from the Associate Commissioner
- Family and student engagement
- Co-Teaching topic briefs
- 2022 World Language Professional Learning Series
- NYSSB Seal of Biliteracy Scholarship
- and more!
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.
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.
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.
NYSABE Scholarships Available
The 2022 NYSABE virtual conference “Reclaiming Social Justice in Bilingual Education for Multilingual Learners” will be held on April 7-9, 2022. Pre-conference events will take place on April 4-6, 2022.
RBERN West is pleased to offer scholarships to cover the conference fee for administrators and educators to attend the virtual conference. You must be a NYS teacher in WNY with a valid public, charter, or private school e-mail address. Please apply via the Google form below to be considered for this important professional development opportunity.
PBL and ELs: An Essential Practice for Equity and Digital-Age Teaching
Whether you are teaching in-person, virtually, or in a hybrid setting, project-based learning (PBL) provides authentic learning experiences that help ELs acquire content knowledge while also developing their language and literacy skills.
Check out this featured blog post on Corwin Connect by Heather Rubin from Long Island RBERN!
Learn Along Bingo Packets from PBS
Journey's End WNY Refugee Film Festival
The fourth season, premiering in February 2022, will continue to be virtual and FREE due to the pandemic. This season will highlight the compelling stories and voices of refugees resettled in the U.S.
For more information and to register for an ambassador pass, visit the film festival website.
Teach Mideast
FCC Affordable Connectivity Program - Extended!
The Affordable Connectivity Program provides:
- Up to $30/month discount for broadband service;
- Up to $75/month discount for households on qualifying Tribal lands; and
- A one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet purchased through a participating provider if the household contributes more than $10 but less than $50 toward the purchase price.
Shawnna Sweet - New Assistant Director of World Languages in Greece Central Schools
We would like to congratulate our colleague Shawnna Sweet on her new position. She leaves the Mid-West RBERN with many enhanced services since she started in 2015. She has forged a path that supports educators to empower ELLs and MLs throughout the region and NYS. Shawnna has led the regional Collaborative for the Seal of Biliteracy for the past 6 years, including the creation of the NYS Modules for training on the Seal. She has led and facilitated numerous workshops and Title III activities, especially in the Wayne Finger Lakes BOCES regions, but including all of the MidWest RBERN regions. She was also a key player in delivering the Virtual Teacher Summit for 2020 and 2021 for both RBERN West and MidWest regions, along with her colleagues.
Shawnna was the chairperson of the Graduation Task Force for NYS with OBEWL, while offering support to local districts using the NYS Graduation Toolkit resources. She also led the regional IHE consortium, inviting colleges and school districts to collaborate annually to support teacher education and certification programs. Shawnna was instrumental in supporting the increase of ELL participation at the Monroe 2 Orleans BOCES WeMoCo (CTE) program.
Shawnna’s superpower (among other gifts) is in her meticulous keeping of “everything” and being able to quickly find old documents or resources that it would take the rest of us hours to find. We will miss her as an RBERN colleague but wish her the best of luck in her new role!
Remembering John Carlino, Executive Director of NYSAFLT and NECTFL
It is with a very heavy heart and much sadness that we share the news that John Carlino, Executive Director of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers (NYSAFLT) and the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL), left us on January 29, 2022, after a short but fierce battle with cancer. John was an incredible leader, serving first as treasurer of NYSAFLT before stepping into the executive director role in 2004. He helped guide NYSAFLT through the transition from paper to virtual communications and meetings, streamlining many processes and developing protocols that keep NYSAFLT running smoothly behind the scenes. John supported members willing to get more involved in the organization, and it is under his watchful eye that many have flourished both here in NYS as well as more broadly across the larger organizations, such as NECTFL, ACTFL and NNELL. His reach expanded nationally, as executive director of NECTFL and on the board of JNCL-NCLIS.
John will be forever remembered for his patience with others, especially when helping someone learn a new technological skill; for his presence at all things NYSAFLT as he provided us with transparency about the organization and made sound decisions that affected its future; and for his forethought and vision which carried us through a recession and a pandemic. John’s leadership in and advocacy for language learning echo across the wide landscape of our profession. Always ready to volunteer for any effort that promoted language teaching, always professional in his demeanor, John shone a light that radiated through constituencies and inspired colleagues to always reach for a higher caliber of professionalism.
About Us
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
