More than 100 teachers, coaches, consultants and administrators gathered this week to share their best practices for language acquisition and multi-literacy as part of the OCDE Project GLAD® NTC Annual Summit 2019.
The two-day conference, held Tuesday and Wednesday at OCDE’s headquarters, included presentations from experts on language and dual immersion, along with more than a dozen breakout sessions.
If you’re not familiar with Project GLAD®, the acronym is short for Guided Language Acquisition Design, and OCDE runs its official National Training Center. The goal is to share strategies that have been proven to build literacy and language skills for students, particularly English learners. In addition, support is offered to help more students become dual literate — in English and a second language.
“The really strong instruction support that a model such as GLAD® adds is such a tremendous asset to so many teachers and students alike,” Linda Lippitt of the English Learner Support Team at the North Carolina Department of Education told attendees.
While there are variations, the basic Project GLAD® program spans two days, followed by four to five days of classroom demonstrations that allow participants to see how the strategies actually work with students. There are also customized follow-ups.
OCDE Project GLAD® NTC works with schools and districts to identify what their needs are before creating customized supports for implementation, Manager Nicole Chavez said.
Check out our Q&A with Chavez from last year’s conference, where she provides more information about the program.