HV RBERN Update

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HV RBERN Professional Learning Opportunities

Current HV RBERN Workshops

**Self-Guided HV RBERN Workshops!**

Experience RBERN workshops at your own pace and earn CTLE certificates when it's convenient to you!

Please ignore the note "Enrollment is full" at the top of the listings. New courses will be added throughout the school year.

HV RBERN Needs Assessment/Satisfaction Survey

In order to better serve our region, the NYS Hudson Valley Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network (HV RBERN) is gathering data to inform our grant-funded professional development initiatives as well as other supports. In addition, if applicable, we are seeking qualitative input with regard to our provided services.

Please feel free to forward this survey to other educators in your district.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated!

Click here to access the survey.

Other Professional Learning Opportunities

The partnership of the ACTION Collaborative Network and the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at SUNY New Paltz is excited to announce a new professional learning opportunity.

Thanks to generous support from the NYS Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services, all NYS school, state, county, and municipal employees can participate free of charge in the 17th Annual IDMH (Virtual) Conference: From 9/11 to COVID-19 - Lessons from Two Decades of Disaster Response.

The conference takes place September 29th and 30th. All sessions will be recorded and registrants will have access to the content for one year, so you can still participate even if you cannot join "live". CLICK HERE to register, and HERE for more conference information from IDMH.

CUNY-IIE are excited to offer another series of free and virtual Professional Development Modules designed to facilitate conversations and hands-on learning activities centered around supporting immigrant and refugee students, families, and educators at school. Educators will earn a total of fifteen (15) CTLE credits upon successful completion of the module.

Registration is open now for two CTLE courses:

Key Immigration Issues: https://tinyurl.com/cunyiiectle-keyissues

Refugees and Immigrants in Schools: https://tinyurl.com/cunyiiectle-refugees

The above registration links include more information about each course, including meeting dates/times and other requirements, as well as a reflection assignment that will help the team confirm your placement in the course. The last day to sign-up for a spot in one of the two CTLE courses offered is Friday, October 1st. If you cannot participate in this round, be on the lookout for more CTLE courses in November 2021, as well as in January, February, and March 2022.

NYSED

As predicted last year, a number of unaccompanied minors who recently immigrated to the United States have begun to enroll in NYS schools. The Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages wishes to remind you of this memo issued by Commissioner Rosa on May 26, 2021. This memo outlines a district’s responsibilities in serving our students as required by federal and state laws including the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act. These responsibilities include:

  • Providing educational opportunities to all resident students who are of compulsory age

  • Conducting the ELL Identification process within the 10-school day required timeline

  • Allowing students to enroll even if their sponsor is not a legal guardian

  • Enrolling students without delay, including allowing students to attend school for up to 30 days if their medical and immunization records are not present

  • Requesting records from the school that the student previously attended

  • Providing free meals without the requirement of an application

  • Using Title I funds to meet the needs of these unaccompanied youth

The Hudson Valley RBERN is ready to offer support if you require technical assistance in supporting the English Language Learners enrolled in your district. Additional contact references for other potential issues (Homelessness, Access to Services, Special Education) are provided in the memo.

Partner Updates

The CUNY Graduate Center Multilingual Literacy SIFE Screener project is seeking partner schools who would like to pilot new features of the MLS before they are released more widely (anticipated for Spring 2022).

Some highlights:

  • The Reading Comprehension test in Spanish now includes the Early Literacy portion, testing grades kindergarten through grade nine

  • The Math test in Spanish, Arabic, French, and Chinese will test grades 1-9

  • An updated testing path is expected to result in a shorter test time for these tests

  • Updated teacher reports now articulate all skills in the language of the NGLS and give itemized breakdowns by skill, providing more detail for each student

They are looking for partner schools and districts to administer these updated versions of the tests to their students in the fall and give feedback to make sure objectives have been met. Partner schools will be asked to give feedback on the new teacher reports via a zoom meeting or google form response in late fall.

Additionally, for calibration purposes, they ask that when possible, students taking the Spanish reading comprehension test be administered the test on two occasions within about a month of each other. They now have two versions and want to make sure the grade placement of version 1 is equivalent to version 2.

They are hosting info sessions on:

  • Thursday September 23, 2021 from 12:30 to 1:15 PM

  • Thursday September 23, 2021 from 3:15 to 4:00 PM

  • Wednesday, September 29, 2021 from 3:00 to 3:45 PM

Please use this google form to sign up: https://forms.gle/V3t5Cq7wuRHv2vwD7. A zoom link will be emailed to those who register. As always you can email mls.email.server@gmail.com for more information about anything related to the MLS.

Bridges to Academic Success recently shared their Fall newsletter outlining several strategies for supporting Newcomers and SIFE students. You can access the latest newsletter here.

Career Opportunities

Ossining UFSD