APRIL 2015

Manuel R. CortezRodas
(Chief Educator/Founder)

April has arrived, and with it, the season of spring which brings the signs of rebirth.  

There is much that is associated with this month and have included a few examples to consider:

• Spring showers, which are urgently needed in California.
• It is, as it is written in hashtag, #NationalPoetryMonth or #npm15
• The beginning of the last three months of school (Apr, May, Jun).
• Graduates blooming from our high schools as the Class of 2015. 
• The continuing duty and debate of year end education assessment.
• Spring Break 2015!!!

MRCR Education is doing its best to continue presenting and sharing information that can be of assistance to educators prepare in that final stretch of the 2014-15 school year.  

The MRCR Education Logo
(Inspired by the Mayan representation
for "TUN" meaning: Stone, Year)

Please continue to follow us on Twitter @mrcreducation for the latest updates from MRCR Education and its resources on the areas of English Language Developement (ELD) Education, STEAM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics), and HAST (Humanities, Arts, Science, Technology) Education, in addition to other educational themes and topics. 

We look forward to your feed back! 

Thank You. 




Manuel R. CortezRodas - Chief Educator/Founder

Copyright 2015.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

What Works in ELD

English Language Development (ELD) programs can facilitate a student's transition from no English, or limited English, to fluency and mastery of the language.  Having looked at what works in ELD, there are five areas which were identified:

1) Language Assessment
2) Core Class Placement
3) Access to Language
4) Language Acquisition
5) Reassess & Reevaluate

These five areas are essential to the language development of students whose native or primary language is not English, and should be analysed by connecting them to the following three categories:

1) Personal Experiences
2) Professional Experiences
3) Data & Research

The guide below shows a way that this connection can be done, you can also open the guide here  to access the file.

	HOW IT WORKS
WHAT WORKS	PERSONAL EXPERIENCE	PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE	DATA & RESEARCH
LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
CORE CLASS PLACEMENT
LANGUAGE ACCESS
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
RE-ASSESS & RE-EVALUATE
Copyright 2015. MRCR Educational Consulting Firm. All Rights Reserved.

This guide is designed to assist with the facilitation of ELD instruction at various educational levels and to chart a roadmap that guides students as they move toward fluency and mastery of the English language.


Manuel R. CortezRodas - Chief Educator/Founder

Copyright 2015.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Formative Assessment

Formative Assessment is a continuous process that can:

1) Facilitate learning through the integration of curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
 

2) Communicates data through feed back loops which connect students, teachers, administrators, educators, etc.
 

3) Allows for the development of a multiple instruction pathway.
 

4) Makes thinking visible.

A key to the success of Formative Assessment is a gradual implementation of this process, through a multitude of points designed to allow for learning modifications to take place.

Formative Assessment can be applied in California schools through the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and educational programs such as English Language Development (ELD), STEAM, HAST, etc.

At the 2015 Formative Assessment in the Classroom, the Curriculum, and the Culture of Schools conference, sponsored by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), a panel of education professionals representing various leading institutions (CRESST, IFL, SCALE, SRI, UC Berkeley, And WestEd) shared their insight on, and support for, Formative Assessment.

School, district, and educational leaders interested in introducing Formative Assessment to their sites, are highly encouraged to search for further information from the many available resources.

Formative Assessment is not anything designed or implemented to create or cause a systematic change in educational systems, or establish a one-size-fits-all education model, but rather work together through collaboration and innovations in the approach to education.

Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2015.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.