Professional Development

Dos Caminos and ENL teachers have been trained and continue to receive ongoing professional development on researched based dual language and language acquisition methodologies. They utilize these in their daily instruction to assess student academic and language development. 

DC Teachers have participated in the following professional development 

• The Dual Language Classroom:  Essentials - Facilitated by Dr. Jose Medina

  • • Serving in a dual language program requires an understanding of language acquisition and dual language research.  Additionally, dual language teachers rely on specific pedagogical tools that better allow them to serve emergent bilingual students in the classroom.  Workshop participants, through the use of the highly regarded Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education: 3rd Edition, will be able to engage in interactive activities that will quickly be able to be implemented, while also supporting the three goals of dual language education.

• ¡Toma la Palabra! Enlazando la oralidad y la lectoescritura

  • • Based on the research and experience of Dr. Mónica Lara working in countless bilingual classrooms, this training provides teachers with theory, strategies, and activities in Spanish that develop oracy and literacy. Dr. Lara will guide participants discussions and reflections on best practices, while enhancing their own Spanish language skill 

• Cristian R. Solorza (Supervised Fieldwork Advisor & Course Instructor Bank Street School of Education, Educational Consultant) - On-going 

  • • Mr. Solorza is also an educational consultant that has been working with schools and districts for over a decade in helping them improve the design and delivery of programs for emergent bilinguals in New York and abroad. Cristian supports administrators, English as a New Language (ENL), special education, bilingual, and monolingual classroom teachers with the assessment of English/bilingual learners, reading/writing with beginner/intermediate language learners, language & disability, implementation of the Common Core State Standards, coaching, lesson study, bilingual word study, ICT/ENL/classroom teacher collaboration, translanguaging, and the restructuring of curricula and modification of lessons to meet the needs of multilingual learners. 

• Center for Applied Linguistics (Spanish Literacy Institute: Fostering Spanish Language and Literacy Development(

  • • Provides effective methodologies for teaching academic language and literacy in Spanish to students in a wide variety of programs where Spanish is the language of instruction. Classroom practices are framed by an understanding of Spanish language arts standards and linguistic features. 

• Book Studies

  • ¡Toma la Palabra! Enlazando la oralidad y la lectoescritura - Dr. Monica Lara

  • 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive Foreign Language Classroom - Anna Matis and John Seidlitz 

  • Teaching for Biliteracy:  Strengthening Bridges between Languages - Cheryl Urow & Kathy Beeman

ENL teachers have participated in the following professional development

• Newcomers, SIFE and the Multilingual SIFE Screener (MLS)

  • An overview of the Multilingual SIFE Screener and how to use this instrument for the identification of new entrants who may be SIFE. The session covered the technical aspects of registering students, administering the MLS and downloading teacher reports, and also foster an understanding of how to use MLS data to inform programmatic and instructional choices for the students. This session discussed the implications for ENL and content instruction at the intersection of language, culture, race and immigration in our secondary classrooms.

• The NYS Next Generation Standards and ELL/MLL Instruction: What Educators Need to Know

  • How will the NYS Next Generation Standards apply to ELL students? In this full-day workshop, participants will examine parts of the Next Generation Standards (NGS) to understand how they relate to NYSESLAT Performance Level Descriptions (PLDs), Targets of Measurement (ToMs), and the New Language Arts Progressions (NLAP). Participants will learn to use several tools that can help teachers plan and provide scaffolded instruction, as outlined by the NGS, for students with developing language proficiency. Participants will also take a deep dive into the Advanced Literacy Briefs regarding Linguistically Diverse Learners and the Next Generation Learning Standards provided to NYS by Nonie K. Lesaux, PhD from Harvard University & Emily Phillips Galloway, EdD from Vanderbilt University. Participants will (1) Gain foundational knowledge of the NGS; (2) Understand how the NGS relates to Common-Core aligned tools for ELL instruction and assessment (the NLAP, ToMs and PLDs); and (3) Understand the connection between the NGS, Advanced Literacies and Linguistically Diverse Learners.

• Writing Is Thinking (WIT) 101-Sentences to Parallel Revision

  • This workshop introduces participants to the sentence level strategies that form the heart of the WIT approach and that develop clear, complex writing simultaneously with language, content, vocabulary, reading comprehension and thinking. Strategies include sorts, scrambles, conjunctions, expansion, appositives, combining and parallel revision. Parallel revision is a strategy to secure that strategies learned within teacher-provided scaffolds transfer to students' independent writing. Participants will experience parallel revision tasks.

• Administration of the NYSESLAT - Training & Review

  • This HALF DAY training session is intended for those new to NYSESLAT administration, as well as for those who are already familiar with administration of the annual "NYS English as a Second Language Achievement Test" (NYSESLAT) and want a "refresher”. Materials for this training are the same training materials used annually.

• The Need for Cultural Proficiency to Better Serve Emergent Bilingual Students

  • Participants, as educators, will learn about various ways to inculcate cultural proficiency into their practice. Cultural proficiency, at its core, is about seeing the similarities and difference with others " but, seeing that which is different, as an opportunity to connect, rather than an obstacle to overcome. Participants will interact with their own biases and prejudices, as a way to better value the diverse student populations they serve.

• The Original Tech Toolkit for Supporting ELLs

  • The world of technology for educators is always changing with new and exciting tools. This morning presentation will introduce K-12 educators to various websites, tools, and apps which can be used by ENL teachers to enhance instruction. Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be exposed to methods of integrating technology to enhance communication and translation, accessibility, interactivity, and engagement.

• Using NYSESLAT Data to Plan for Instruction

  • In this hands-on workshop, participants will gain understanding of the importance of data-driven instruction for English Language Learners (ELLs), deconstruct NYSESLAT data and practice strategies for NYSESLAT data analyzation. Participants will explore the relationship between data-driven planning and student achievement, and by the end of this workshop, they will be able to convert raw NYSESLAT data to actionable formats and determine their ELL's proficiency levels in reading, speaking, listening, and writing. Data will be used to plan for purposeful instruction across the four modalities and NYSESLAT proficiency levels. Participants will also understand how to read and understand the ESSA-related ELP data report for their schools and districts. This workshop is intended for all teachers who work with ELLs and who utilize NYSESLAT data.

• Educators Guide to Migrant Students & Social Emotional Learning

  • When children are impacted by stress and trauma, supports must be provided to develop various skills in order to even begin to tackle the aftermath of these experiences. This workshop will build participants' awareness of the various traumas and stresses that can affect many of our students, specifically undocumented migrant students. We will identify practical classroom strategies for incorporating social emotional learning to support both teachers and students.