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Department of Dual Language & English Learner Education
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Community Engagement

Learn about the community engagement projects and initiatives of the Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education.

Our Centers

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CEBER is committed to supporting the implementation of Proposition 58 that affords pathways for California school districts and schools to design multilingual education programs.

 

Go to CEBER website

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DEBER is a five-year initiative will create a pathway for about 100 students per year from Southwestern, San Diego Mesa and San Diego City College who will transfer into SDSU’s bilingual credential program.

 

Go to DEBER website

 

Projects

Community Projects Involving K-12 Teachers & Administrators

Project: Sherman Heights Professional Development Project
Lead: Cristina Alfaro
Description: Sherman Heights Elementary - Dual Language Professional
Development: Will work with the Sherman administration and teachers to support the development and implementation of the K-6 DL program. Experts are being brought in (several who are graduates of our MA program) to support this project.

Project: Latino Coalition Advisory Group & Annual Summit @ San Diego County Office of Education
Lead: Cristina Alfaro & Alberto Ochoa
Description: This coalition is made up of local educators and parents and meet monthly with the San Diego City Leadership (superintendent & curriculum leaders) to advise the district on issues related to English learners, particularly the need to support biliteracy programs in the district. The Summit is an annual event that is cosponsored by the County office of Education. Faculty work with teachers and parents from across the County to hold this one day event with the goal to inform and advocate for appropriate services for EL students.

Project: California Reading & Literature Project-No Child Left Behind
Lead: Alberto Ochoa
Description: This project provides training and professional development to teachers and support staff throughout San Diego County in the area of literacy development. The California Reading and Literature Project (CRLP) is one of nine California Subject Matter Projects working in California and is governed through the University of California's Office of the President. The CRLP mission marks student achievement as a central goal and teacher leadership and quality professional development as the primary vehicles to serve this goal. The California Reading and Literature Project supports professional development opportunities for teachers of reading and literature, including expository texts, in K-12 and university classrooms.
Project: Effective Science Teaching for English Language Learners (ESTELL): A Pre-Service Teacher Professional Development Research Project Across Four Universities in California
Lead: Alberto J. Rodriguez
Description: This Discovery Research Project aims to explore the impact of a multi-year, multi-level model of elementary teacher education designed to prepare novice teachers to teach science to culturally and linguistically diverse students with a particular emphasis on K-6 students who are English Language Learners. The project involves collaboration between researchers and teacher educators with expertise in cultural diversity and science education from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), San Diego State University (SDSU), San Francisco State University (SFSU), and San Jose State University (SJSU), as well as the collaboration of several school districts.
ESTELL is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation for $3.1 million dollars over four years. Dr. Alberto J. Rodriguez is the Principal Investigator for the SDSU campus, and the lead in the re-design of the science methods course. This re-design of the methods course is a principal focus of the research project as we seek to investigate the impact of the ESTELL pedagogical model on the pre-service teachers' practice during student teaching and during their first year of teaching in their own classrooms. By gathering data from multiple sources (surveys, in-class observations, and field notes), and from multiple campuses, we hope to develop new understanding of how novice teachers learn to teach science to diverse learners and the individual background and context characteristics that support or impede their development. This research will also have a broader impact by providing important information to teacher education providers and school districts on the preparation of pre-service teachers to work with the increasingly diverse US K-6 student population and providing evidence of the efficacy of the approach. The ultimate goal is to increase the participation and achievement of underrepresented K-6 students in science by improving the preparation of their teachers. 
Project: Active Student Engagement in Learning during Instruction
Lead: Trevor Shanklin (LARC) & Tamara Collins-Parks (PLC)
Description: This project uses videos to examine student engagement in learning. The practical goal is to create a search-able video database that can be used as examples of classroom interaction and to improve reflection and self analysis in student teachers. The research goal is to examine the utility of this practice in improving student engagement in learning. Currently the project includes a small case study of 3 Spanish teachers focused on active student engagement to improve their students' communicative competence and a longer term study of four years of SS-BCLAD cohorts focused on their interaction with students during instruction (monitoring & engagement). 
Project: ADELANTE Dual Credential Bilingual Emphasis & Education Specialist Teacher Preparation Program 
Program Director: Dr. Anne Graves
Program Advisor: Professor Ernesto Sanz
Description: This dual credential teacher preparation program is designed for Bilingual individuals proficient in Spanish and English seeking a Bilingual Emphasis credential and Education Specialist in Mild/Moderate disabilities. This is an intensive two-year credential program for highly committed individuals interested in meeting the specific needs of English language learners in California.

Community Projects with Parents of English Language Learners

Project: EVEN Start Programs (ACCESS & CBS)
Lead: Karen Cadiero-Kaplan
Description: Both of these projects are funded by the California Dept. of Education and are geared towards developing literacy for parents who have children in San Diego City Schools. The parents are involved in both parenting classes and English classes. K-6 schools involved in the project are: Balboa and Walter J. Porter Elementary (CBS), Edison and Kimbrough Elementary (ACCESS). Community partners include: Community Based English Tutoring; State Preschool; San Diego Unified School District (see schools above); Red Cross, Mexican Consulate and Ruben.
Project: DAD's Project
Lead:Karen Cadiero-Kaplan 
Description: The First Five Commission of San Diego funds this project. The primary goals of the My Dad, My Book and I (Mi Papa, mi Libro y Yo) is to provide education, practice and support for fathers of preschool children: equip fathers to assist their children in literacy; support father involvement during ad beyond the early childhood years, and promote healthy and engaging father-children relationships. The project is open to more than 1,000 families residing in or near Kimbrough and Edison Elementary schools in San Diego.