WIDA News September 2019

2019 WIDA Annual Conference - Registration is filling fast!

Registration for the 2019 WIDA Annual Conference on October 15-18, 2019 is filling fast and we expect the event to sell out this year. Avoid the waiting list and take advantage of your last opportunity to save on registration fees by registering today. Rates increase October 1st. For more information visit the conference website.

Meet ESL Teacher Marie Hennemann from the U.S. Virgin Islands

Elementary school teacher Marie Henneman knows all about the multilingual students she teaches. Marie spoke only Spanish when she entered Kindergarten. She was placed into a mainstream classroom without any help or support. Now, Marie makes sure that she builds her students' self-esteem first. She says, "It is my belief that all learners can grow and achieve success academically." Marie went on to discuss the role of score reports. "Anticipation builds every May, as I wait to see my students’ WIDA ACCESS score reports. These score reports help me plan ahead for..."

Read the full interview.

Welcome Connecticut and Illinois!

WIDA is excited to welcome Connecticut and Illinois as the newest WIDA Early Years member states! Connecticut and Illinois join existing Early Years Member State​s Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, WIDA Early Years rolled out a membership program to help state education agencies provide resources and support to their early care and education workforce that serve young multilingual children and families. Statewide benefits include creation or update of a state-specific connection document, access to online learning modules, and a discount in the WIDA Store on Early Years products for English and Spanish language development. WIDA Early Years membership also provides state leaders networking opportunities via virtual and in-person meetings.

To learn more, visit the WIDA Early Years page.

WIDA MODEL Webinar and WIDA MODEL Awareness Week

Here's a way to learn about WIDA MODEL interim assessments one day at a time starting September 23. Sign up for WIDA MODEL Awareness Week Emails. By opting in, you'll get a daily message with information about WIDA MODEL sent straight to your inbox. We'll help you understand the WIDA Assessment System, get you started with WIDA MODEL, provide details about test administration and scoring, and point you to available resources.

Send email to Opt-in now! 

By the way in case you missed it, check out the digest version of WIDA Screener Awareness Week in the secure portal.

Last Chance - Writing with Multilingual Learners in the Elementary Grades Academy

Register now for the Writing with Multilingual Learners in the Elementary Grades Academy, taking place in Las Vegas on December 10-11, 2019. Participants in this interactive Academy explore a pedagogical approach that apprentices multilingual learners into writing in various academic genres. Specifically, we’ll look at examples of this in science and consider how this approach develops multilingual learners’ writing skills and their awareness about how writing works. This will allow them to become effective and informed writers not only in science but across content areas.

Learn more about this Academy

Missed the WIDA School Improvement System (WIDA SIS) Webinar?

Last month, WIDA presented a webinar on how the WIDA School Improvement System collects action-based data that can be used to support schools in their school improvement planning and ELL program evaluation. If you missed it, the recorded webinar is now available on-demand! Watch the recorded webinar or visit the WIDA SIS website for more information.

Been a while since you've visited WIDA on the web?

WIDA hosts a number of websites for a variety of educators. Some people tell us that they are not quite sure where to begin. Check out this walk-through video to find out where to go for key resources...and have a successful start to the fall semester!

Watch the Video

New WIDA Workshop Events Just Added

• Educator Collaboration to Support Multilingual Learners (2-day)
  • Platteville, WI | October 9-10, 2019
• Educator Collaboration to Support Multilingual Learners (2-day)
  • Joliet, IL | November 14-15, 2019
• Differentiation for Linguistically Diverse Students (1-day)
  • Madison, WI | March 17, 2020
• Purposeful Lesson Planning for Language Learners (2-day)
  • Madison, WI | March 18-19, 2020
• Full March Session (3-day)
  • Madison, WI | March 17-19, 2020
• Formative Language Assessment (2-day)
  • Madison, WI | April 22-23, 2020
• Differentiation for Linguistically Diverse Students (1-day)
  • Madison, WI | May 19, 2020
• Educator Collaboration to Support Multilingual Learners (2-day)
  • Madison, WI | May 20-21, 2020
• Full May Session (3-day)
  • Madison, WI | May 19-21, 2020
• Differentiation for Linguistically Diverse Students (1-day)
  • Madison, WI | July 14, 2020
• Formative Language Assessment (2-day)
  • Madison, WI | July 15-16, 2020
• Full Madison Summer Seminar (3-day)
  • Madison, WI | July 14-16, 2020

To host an event or bring a workshop to your school, please contact wida.pl@wceps.org, or check out the WIDA Workshops website to view all upcoming workshops and register now!