Tuesday, October 20, 2020

October Board of Ed: Language Interpretative project

backup is here 
Lauren Woo: establishing ongoing two way communication with families
21 districts selected to participate: 

Holyoke

Amherst

Boston

Lawrence

Easthampton

Brockton

Southbridge

Fitchburg

Chelsea

Springfield Empowerment Zone

Gardner

Everett

Northampton

Fall River

Springfield

Lowell

Worcester

Lynn

New Bedford

Revere

 

 

Salem


and there's a presentation that we can't see; there were two things that they said were happening, but...I don't know what they were

Vázquez Matos, new Holyoke receiver
language access integrated "into the first three slices" which...I don't know what those are
strong culture of language equity in the district
grounded in "access through equity"
updating online sources "translated by professional linguists, not a machine"
training tier...I think this means translators?
Nicholas Magnolia (who manages interpretation for Holyoke) directory of those interpreters
tracking PD of those who are trained interpreters 
services that allow family to school interpretation, not just school to family
promoting family advocacy 
Vázquez Matos part of "being an actively anti-racist district that is culturally responsive to the families it serves"

Johnston: also services being offered to all districts
family resources for students who are both English learners and have disabilities
take the ideas from those districts and make them universally available 

Fernández: perked ears that you're using professional translators
investment in families
Johnston: having trained interpreters in the district, having a tiered model with those who can incidentally interpret versus those who need more intensive translation (like an IEP meeting)
Vázquez Matos: being bilingual and biliterate, seek to eliminate the obstacles to families
on the website: how to access remote learning, from how to turn on a Chromebook to who do I call and how to ensure that those they call can speak to them in their language
from signage to how do we answer the phones; deliberate choices
working for bilingual students having high academic vocabulary in both languages
tell students it's a superpower
how to embed that in the curriculum
reaching out to parents to speak the language at home and read to students at home

No comments: