In this episode of Highest Aspirations, we're discussing dual language programs: what key features make them successful, how we make them more equitable, the steps we can take to further progress in the dual language movement, and much more. For this conversation, we're interviewing Conor Williams, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where he writes about education, immigration, early education, school choice, and work-life balance challenges for American families. He is an expert on Amer...
Dec 05, 2023•58 min
Welcome back to Highest Aspirations, an education podcast focused on providing educators with inspiration and strategies to help multilingual learners achieve their highest aspirations. In our last episode, we spoke with Dr. Joanna Dreby and Dr. Eric Macias about the work they are doing facilitate meaningful discussions among undergraduate students on immigration at the University of Albany and how some of the strategies they use might work in K-12 settings. In this episode, I spoke with one of ...
Nov 21, 2023•35 min
We have a repeat guest on Highest Aspirations today. I first talked with Dr. Joanna Dreby and some of her students back in March of 2022. We discussed the challenges that US-born children of immigrants face in school, family, and social environments. The two episodes we did were really eye-opening for me and many of our listeners. Joanna and one of the students we profiled in the series - Falmari Rojas-Barrios - will be joining us at our upcoming IMPACT conference to talk more about this topic, ...
Nov 07, 2023•58 min
How has a misinterpretation of “self-care” led to burnout in the education field? How can heightened emotional intelligence improve our ability to understand and manage our emotions, particularly when advocating for our MLLs? What are some improvements or changes we can call for in the educational ecosystem to provide better, meaningful emotional support for educators? Dorina Sackman-Ebuwa in an honest, vulnerable, and sometimes emotional conversation about how a misinterpretation of “self-care”...
Oct 24, 2023•1 hr 1 min
How can we determine the difference between pushing our language learners to productive struggle vs. past their frustration point? What can educators do to intentionally address or decrease the impact that our own implicit bias may have on our expectations for our students? How can we support students, particularly multilingual learners, in un-learning low self-esteem or self-confidence for their own learning abilities? We address these questions and more with Amy King and Yvonne Williams from W...
Oct 10, 2023•51 min
What role do identity and ‘social location’ play for educators and how can we be more intentional about updating the education systems we work in? How can we implement a school wide system of support for educators and a culture that encourages collaboration and empathy? What is some advice or a good starting point for educators who feel overwhelmed at the idea of add-on work to successfully support language learners in their classes? We discuss these questions and more with Sarah Ottow, a longti...
Sep 26, 2023•51 min
How can teachers use relationship building to improve learning outcomes for hesitant or disconnected students? How can we encourage our students to embrace and celebrate their bilingualism? We dive into these questions and more with Sonia Águila, a California dual language teacher who has been recognized in her district, her state, and nationally for the work she has done in the field of multilingual education. Born in Santa Barbara, California, Sonia Águila grew up in a small town near Guadalaj...
Sep 12, 2023•48 min
How can we apply the four aspects of self-determination theory to increasing opportunities for intrinsic motivation to flourish? What can teachers do in their classrooms to make their students, particularly MLLs, feel more connected to their learning? Why is it important to find a healthy balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for students? In his second appearance on Highest Aspirations, we get into the topic of student motivation and what we can do to spark it, and maybe more impor...
Aug 29, 2023•51 min
What is the difference between all student talk and discussions? How can teachers plan for meaningful discussion opportunities for all students, particularly MLLs? What research-proven strategies are there for creating, maintaining and repairing community and relationships in the classroom? We discuss these questions and more with Dr. Mariana Castro. Dr. Mariana Castro is the Director of the Multilingual Learning Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also a lead curricul...
Aug 15, 2023•51 min
How can we support educators in the wake of a significant change, such as integrating newcomers into schools after dissolving all designated newcomer centers? What techniques can be used to best support teachers who are inexperienced with newcomers, including structuring PD and harnessing campus leadership? What is a good approach when preparing staff, families, and other stakeholders for a significant structural change to a school program such as this? We’re closing out Season 10 of the Highest...
May 16, 2023•44 min
What are some key rulings during the history of EL policy and their impact on education equity and access? What challenges are multilingual students currently facing in education and how have policies helped overcome or exacerbate them? How can we better advocate for ELs in policy and legislation? We discuss this question and more with Ellevation co-founder, President, and in-house policy wonk, Teddy Rice. In addition to being Ellevation’s President and co-founder, Rice also happens to be our in...
May 02, 2023•52 min
How is AI currently being used to support MLLs in K12 education? What challenges and concerns currently surround the increasing presence of AI in the classroom? How might this technology transform the work of educators moving forward? We get into these topics and more with our guest Chris Mah. Chris is a first-year doctoral student in the Stanford Graduate School of Education. He is interested in researching all things writing, multilingualism, and technology. Before Stanford, he taught high sch...
Apr 18, 2023•52 min
What are three mathematical mindsets that can guide instruction for MLs and help them thrive? How can teachers approach academic conversations and building in differentiation in a way that won’t feel overwhelming? What can teachers do to ensure they are building in time for high-quality interactions while delivering instruction? We discuss these questions and much more with Adrian Mendoza. Adrian joined us at our IMPACT conference last year and we just had to bring him back for a podcast intervi...
Apr 04, 2023•51 min
Welcome back to a special episode of Highest Aspirations. Our guests this week are 3 students from Lowell High School in Massachusetts. I was introduced to them through our friend Jessica Lander, who has appeared on the podcast and facilitated an inspiring session at our annual IMPACT conference last year. She also happens to be the teacher of our three guests, Lucas, Ana Sofia, and Kasi - all of whom are students at Lowell High School who came to the US in the last 5 years. You’ll hear elements...
Mar 21, 2023•27 min
Is the term “Long Term English Learners” limiting opportunities and academic achievement for this subgroup of students? How can we help these students by uncovering the “hidden curriculum” of language in lessons in order to scaffold support from input to output? What strategies can be used for a school-wide implementation of these practices that foster an environment where all multilingual learners can thrive? We’ll discuss these questions and much more with our guests Beth Skelton and Tan Huynh...
Mar 07, 2023•55 min
How can we support or encourage reluctant colleagues to increase collaboration in order to support MLLs? How can we help educators unlearn the often negative perceptions of dreaded observations by administrators and fellow teachers so they can collaborate more effectively? Do schools that have effective collaborative practices in place retain more teachers? We discuss these questions and much more with Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld and Valentina Gonzalez. Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld is TESOL professor at Moll...
Feb 21, 2023•55 min
How can we give colleagues feedback in a way that is timely and actionable, and what impact can we expect when this is done effectively? What foundational elements to a working relationship must be present before feedback can be given and received? What kinds of information do principals and school leaders need to have and to share prior to beginning an observation and feedback cycle? We discuss these questions and much more with Dr. Esteban F. Hernández is Director of Research and Accountabilit...
Feb 07, 2023•49 min
What are some benefits we have seen from the rise of virtual professional development opportunities since the pandemic? How can educators drive self-directed professional learning that can lead to deeper knowledge and sustained results? How can school leaders best support high-quality PD opportunities? This week we bring back two familiar contributors to Highest Aspirations - Dr. Carol Salva and Tan Huynh along with one guest who somehow is making her first appearance, Katie Toppel. These three ...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 5 min
What are some common misconceptions about EL/SLIFE students and ESL instruction? How can professional development be leveraged to help educators support multilingual learners? What are some particularly effective instructional strategies for multilingual learners in mainstream classrooms? We discuss these questions and more in an impassioned discussion with Nebraska’s 2022 Teacher of the Year Lee Perez. Perez is the first ESL teacher to win Teacher of the Year award in Nebraska, the recipient of...
Jan 10, 2023•49 min
How has family engagement evolved post-pandemic remote learning? Why has online professional learning had staying-power after schools reopened? What are some predictions for trends and changes in store for education in 2023? We’re concluding Season 9 of Highest Aspirations by reflecting on what has been a year full of learning how to best serve our students. We’ll also get into some predictions for 2023. Sandra Medrano Arroyo, my colleague at Ellevation, joins us today to discuss some of our lea...
Dec 13, 2022•52 min
This interview is episode 9 from Season 9 of Highest Aspirations, a podcast from Ellevation where we engage in important conversations about the most rapidly growing student demographic in the United States - English Language Learners. What impacts have we seen on recent policy changes to reclassification or exiting of ELs with disabilities? How can schools prioritize collaboration and improve their current processes for determining reclassification for SPED ELs? What strategies can we use to en...
Nov 29, 2022•45 min
What are the essential elements of success for learning communities to support immigrant students? How can incorporating storytelling into the classroom be used to build empathy and understanding for both students and educators? What are examples of innovative programs or collaborative approaches that are successfully improving outcomes for newcomers and immigrant students? We discuss these questions and much more with Jessica Lander. Jessica Lander is an award-winning teacher, writer and author...
Nov 15, 2022•59 min
What challenges are teachers facing with the curriculum often provided by their district regarding multilingual learner instruction? What role do stakeholders such as content creators, educational leaders, and community advocates play in improving curriculum? Where are we already seeing positive changes in inclusive curriculum and how can we replicate them in other states and districts? We discuss these questions and much more with Renae Skarin, Renae Skarin is senior director, content, at the E...
Nov 03, 2022•50 min
What are some flawed perceptions of immigrant and refugee students and how can these impact the education they receive? What policies or district practices have been barriers to newcomer or immigrant students receiving the full extent of education promised to them by law? How is “moving students through” the education system without adequate support or learning such a major missed opportunity for both them and their communities? We discuss these questions and more with the author of “The School ...
Oct 18, 2022•47 min
What parameters do districts have for spending ARP ESSER funds, specifically relating to multilingual learners? How are some districts already using these funds to offer high impact supports for their language learners? What guidance can we offer educators who want to advocate for their district to include and even prioritize this population of students in their ESSER fund spending plans? We discuss these questions and more with Director of Policy and Advocacy Rosario Quiroz Villareal and Policy...
Oct 04, 2022•39 min
What does research show about the importance of literacy skills when solving math and specifically word problems? How can educators prioritize and build in academic conversations into their classroom routines? What can teachers do to marry math and language so that multilingual learners can engage with the content more deeply? We discuss these questions and much more with Diane Kue, an educational author, speaker, and consultant with eighteen years of teaching and instructional leadership experi...
Sep 20, 2022•38 min
What are some positive outcomes from the uptick in Virtual PD that came out of the pandemic? How can administrators roll out professional development in a way that is both sustainable and sustained? In what ways can educators take an asset-based approach in how they speak about their students, specifically multilingual learners? We discuss these questions and much more with Leticia Trower. Leticia has been passionate about language her entire life. She began her career in education as an element...
Sep 06, 2022•46 min
This interview is a bonus episode from Season 9 of Highest Aspirations, a podcast from Ellevation where we engage in important conversations about the most rapidly growing student demographic in the United States - English Language Learners. We got a chance to speak with Bryan Fernandez and Yerahm Hong, two recipients of the 2022 Ellevation Scholarship. Both of these students were enrolled in an EL program at some point during their K-12 education, and are currently freshmen at USC and UPenn, re...
Aug 30, 2022•24 min
How can educators shift their practice from tearing down students for translanguaging or using “Spanglish” to building this up? How can tactics like co-teaching and professional learning opportunities be leveraged to support multilingual students and create more equitable classrooms? What can educators do to incorporate their students’ entire linguistic repertoire and validate their experiences in the classroom to build confidence? Spanglish has historically been discouraged in both English and ...
Aug 23, 2022•40 min
What are culture learning targets and why are they critical for creating non-oppressive learning environments? How can individual teachers lesson plan in a way that can disrupt the status quo of a monolingual centric approach to learning? How can educators support their multilingual learners in making cross-linguistic connections and fostering a practice of metalinguistic awareness? Welcome back to Season 9 of the Highest Aspirations podcast, a show where we explore how we can help make an impac...
Aug 09, 2022•51 min
