20 Bilingual and ESL teachers and administrators attend bilingual conference in El Paso

The Bilingual ESL department awarded Title III professional development scholarships to a group of 20 teachers and administrators from Dallas ISD to attend the Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE) conference in El Paso, TX earlier this month.

Participants listened to speakers such as Dr. Kathy Escamilla, María Arreguin-Anderson and artists like José Orozco, who presented best instructional practices and research-based strategies for English language learners. Attendees also benefited from visiting schools that currently implement dual language programs both one-way and two-way. The conference whose theme was “Biliteracy, ¡ya es hora!”, is the biggest in the state of Texas for bilingual educators. This year, it attracted over 1200  educators from around the state and other states such as Colorado and New Mexico.

Mr. Wallace, principal from Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary added, “attending TABE reinforced the importance of fostering biliteracy in our school and the critical role that an effective dual language model plays developing biliteracy. By visiting exemplar campuses, such as Alicia Chacon in Ysleta, we were able to observe best practices that can be implemented at our schools.”

Participants will be gathering to present all they learned at district and campus professional development sessions.  The Bilingual ESL department will upload video, photos, and helpful tips learned from the participants in the Bilingual ESL department resources page.  The next TABE conference is scheduled for Oct. 2016 in Galveston.