NYSED Resources
Questions regarding Bilingual/ENL
Questions regarding bilingual/ENL services may be directed to the Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBEWL) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (518) 474-8775.
Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network (RBERN)
English Language Learner and Multilingual Learner Assessment and Testing Accommodation
Other Resources
*NEW in 2022* Supporting All Students in New York State Career and Technical Education Programs
This guide provides a holistic overview of best practices, informed by the most current data on CTE enrollments and educational outcomes for CTE concentrators in New York State secondary schools.
CTE Catalogue of Industry Credentials with Testing Accommodations for ELLs (Download Word Document)
A catalog of the testing accommodations available to English language learners for each certification, examination, assessment, and battery.
Reviews of Materials for CTE and Languages Other than English (LOTE)
The Texas State Board of Education's list of materials for CTE and LOTE courses.
Strategies
Working with English Language Learners - Best Practices for CTE Teachers
Using Pay for Success (PFS) to Provide High-Quality Career and Technical Education. The aim of the program is to improve outcomes for underserved high-need youth by expanding access to high-quality CTE programs with PFS financing.
Instructional Strategies for ELL Students
CTE Perkins Special Populations: English Language Learners or Limited English Proficient: Students whose primary language is not English and/ or who live in a family or community in which a language other than English is dominant.
Preparing English Learners for Work and Career Pathways
Contextualizing instruction provides English learners with the specific English and technical skills they need to be successful. This suite of resources offers tools, practical ideas, and hands-on strategies for educators.
Literacy Skills in CTE Classes - Show & Tell: Using Language to Learn
Article with a video of a FACS class at the end.
Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) content and English as a Second Language (ESL) strategies can be organically incorporated to create a successful education for an English Language Learner (ELL).
CTE Supports English Language Learners
CTE classrooms are the ideal place to learn languages.
Supporting English Language Learners Through Technology
English language learners benefit from the reinforcement of vocabulary and concepts through pictures, graphics, and videos. They also benefit from being able to use technology to express themselves.
6 Tips for Engaging the Families of English Language Learners
Schools can better support students who are still learning English by working to involve their families in their education.
School Districts Expand Supports to bring more ELLs to CTE
Embedding language instruction into CTE Programs can help close what some educators see as an “opportunity gap” faced by students learning English.
Preparing English Language Learners to Succeed After High School
Instructional Practices of Career and Technical Teachers towards English Language Learners
The purpose of this study was to explore the instructional practices used by CTE Teachers to support ELL instruction and how the teachers perceive those practices to improve ELL transition from school to the workforce.
Preparing English Learners for Work and Career Pathways
Contextualizing instruction provides English learners with the specific English and technical skills they need to be successful. This suite of resources offers tools, practical ideas, and hands-on strategies for educators who help adult ELLs in preparing for work or training.
ELL | Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education
The technical assistance provided in these documents offers examples of ways that different partners can work together to build career pathways that provide rigorous and high-quality education.
Ideas to Support English Language Learners with Scannable Technology
Scannable technology can be a powerful tool for supporting ELLs. Students benefit from having quick access to resources that give them the information they need at their fingertips to be successful during their school day.
Interactive Word Walls
Word walls can be useful resources for students who know where to go when they're figuring out how to spell a frequently-used word. Many Word walls can also be specific to the content areas. If you place a QR code next to the word or turn the word itself into an AR trigger using Aurasma or Layar, students can scan and learn more about each word on the word wall. This could be as simple as an audio clip to hear the word pronounced in English, or a text message that shows it translated into another language.
Scannable Vocabulary Lists
Another way to approach vocabulary support is to create personalized vocabulary lists for middle school and high school classrooms. Students can keep a list of words in their folder or notebook. They can scan a QR code or AR trigger to connect to multimedia that will help them place a word in context.
Build Background Knowledge
Before reading a story to the class or starting a new unit of study, send home information that can help students and their families set the stage for learning. Try to locate multimedia resources (articles, video clips, images) in your students' home languages. Give QR codes to help them learn about a topic before you jump into instruction. This can boost their confidence in participating in class discussions and build background knowledge to aid in their academic success.
Audio vs. Written Directions
Some ELLs who are conversationally fluent in English struggle with reading. In addition to giving them written directions in English, provide a QR code on an activity sheet or homework assignment that will link to a URL where they can hear the directions read aloud. This strategy is also helpful for practicing their listening skills. Another option is to provide audio directions for students in their native language so that they can focus on the task at hand rather than struggling to follow written directions.
Connect Families to Resources
For parents and caregivers of ELLs, try sending home QR codes that link to video messages in their home language. You can demonstrate how to scan QR codes at an open school night, or students who use scannable technology at school can show their parents how it works.
Blogs
Collaborating to Support ELL Newcomers - Ellevation Education
Ellevation Education | English Language Learners
Ellevation empowers teachers, administrators, and ELLS with a system designed to go beyond compliance and impact instruction.
Research
Alliance for Excellent Education. October 2012. Note: Although this is an older document, it offers concepts that remain applicable at this time.
To aid ELLs in successfully reaching new college-and career-ready goals, teachers, principals, and district and state leaders need to re-envision curriculum, instruction, and assessment to help them access grade-level content while building their new proficiency.
States should ensure appropriate alignment between the English language proficiency standards and the common core and college-and career-ready standards. Most importantly, leadership and vision are needed to act collectively to provide supportive policies, build educator capacity, and develop effective approaches to English learners’ language and literacy instruction.
College of Education, Temple University. Nov. 2005. Note: This survey may be dated, but the recommendations are still applicable.
This survey is based on findings from 350 CTE teachers from 12 sites in Pennsylvania (return rate = 64%). The participating schools were closely divided between rural (37.9%) and suburban (39.8%) settings. 23.3% of the participating schools classified their setting as urban. The number of different occupational areas taught was 56, and the total number of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students was 448.
Advocates for Children of New York. July 2017.
The paper offers a list of recommended steps the NYC Department of Education can take to begin to address barriers for ELLs, including resolving recruitment and enrollment issues, offering extra training for CTE instructors in serving ELLs, and providing classroom supports in CTE schools, such as bilingual CTE classes and translation and interpretation services.
Books
This book provides simple and straightforward advice on how to teach ELLs in CTE programs using case studies drawn from CTE settings: in the classroom, in the laboratory or workshop, and in work-based learning settings. Readers will gain a better understanding of the challenges of teaching occupationally-oriented content to a diverse group of learners in multiple settings.
Videos/Presentations
An Introduction to Working with English Language Learners in CTE
This 30-minute narrated PowerPoint presentation was developed for CTE teachers and staff who have had little experience in teaching students with limited English proficiency.