News

The WIDA Web Team is pleased to announce that, based on significant user feedback, we have made several upgrades to search functionality on the public WIDA website.

Vivian Levarek helps extend the learning beyond the walls of her classroom and helps her students apply their learning to real-life contexts. She is an advocate for her students and a resource to her colleagues.

The March 2019 edition of WIDA News includes our Featured Educator, a research brief on long-term English learners, information about registration dates for the WIDA Annual Conference, the Client Services answer of the month and more.

The April 2020 edition of WIDA News includes a message from WIDA's Founder and Director, an interview with April's Featured Educator, an announcement about WIDA Secure Portal maintenance, downloadable WIDA resources, and more.

This month's featured educator, Angela Thoen, works with Grades 5-6 newcomers in Austin, Minnesota. She was selected because of her collaborative approach to newcomer education and the growth mindset she brings to her school.

Educational tools and resources for assessing a small but important group of students, multilingual learners challenged with the most significant cognitive disabilities, now will become reality thanks to a $3.998 million U.S. Department of Education grant.

Saasha Lambson wears several hats, as she is both a fourth-grade dual-language teacher and serves as the bilingual coordinator.

The October 2019 edition of WIDA News includes our Featured Educator, an announcement about Advancing ATELLA: Alternative ACCESS Redesign project, information about the WIDA School Improvement System, upcoming professional learning events and more.

"What WIDA provides, amongst many things, are tools to improve relationships between ELL staff and content staff by encouraging collaboration and a free exchange of ideas. It also provides tools for content teachers to deliver content instruction to our ELLs. It gives those teachers the confidence to work with our students and provide them with the strategies and the scaffolds they need to not only improve their English proficiency but also be successful students in areas like math, science, history."

– John Masella, ELL coordinator, Massachusetts
 

The July 2019 edition of WIDA News includes our Featured Educator, the release of the 2019 WIDA Guiding Principles of Language Development, professional learning opportunities, WIDA website and Secure Portal updates, and more!