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ESA to Hold Workshop Focused on English Language Learners
Released May 21, 2008
(ABERDEEN, SD) Region 4 ESA at Northern State University is pleased to offer a two day and a one-half day workshop titled “Characteristics of English Language Learners (ELLs) and Their Families,” on June 16-17 from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., and June 18 from 8:30 a.m. until noon. It will be held on the NSU campus. The workshop (EDFN 492/592) will be co-taught by Dr. Raquel Schmidt of the Exceptional Education Department at Buffalo State College (BSC) in Buffalo, N.Y., and Dr. Maureen Schloss, of the School of Education at NSU. The workshop is open to all school personnel.
Successful completion of EDFN 492/592 will increase participants’ knowledge about the major issues related to working effectively with students and families whose primary language is other than English. Historical, philosophical, and legal foundations for bilingual education will be presented. There will also be discussions of multicultural perspectives and linguistic concerns. Participants will survey current research findings, and current issues and practices in serving students who are ELL.
“The Education Service Agency for Region 4 and Northern State University’s School of Education will provide an outstanding opportunity for area teachers to become more familiar with methods and strategies for teaching students for whom English is not a primary language,” said Dr. Tom Hawley, Dean of the NSU School of Education.
Schmidt, a native of western New York, holds a bachelor’s degree in Exceptional Education and a master’s degree in Bilingual Special Education from BSC. She earned her Ph.D. in 2002 from the University of Buffalo, and joined the Exceptional Education faculty shortly after.
Schloss, who joined the faculty at NSU in 2007, is the coordinator of the special education department and a professor of special education. Prior to coming to NSU, she was the superintendent at the South Dakota School for the Deaf in Sioux Falls.
Course credit is available. For more information, or to register for the workshop, contact Northern ESA at 605-626-3969 or e-mail janeen.outka@northern.edu or janelle.klapperich@northern.edu.
About Northern State University
Northern State University is a premier residential institution characterized by outstanding instruction, extraordinary community relations, and unparalleled extracurricular opportunities. In August of 2007 NSU was named by US News and World Report as one of the best undergraduate public institutions in the Midwest. For more information about NSU, visit our Web site at www.northern.edu.
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