Advocacy

Did you know the TESOL U.S. Advocacy Action Center now features weekly updates on what’s happening in English language education in Washington, DC? You can view the updates online at http://capwiz.com/tesol

TESOL Advocacy Day 2012

By Anne Rogan

On June 18-19th, I took part in TESOL Advocacy Day 2012 in Washington DC.   This was the 6th annual TESOL advocacy event put on by TESOL in an effort to lobby for ELL needs at the national level.

Over 40 teachers from 23 states took part in this event.  The first day was spent training and preparing for our meetings on capitol hill.  We had several speakers including TESOL’s president and advocacy day participant, Suzanne Panferov.  Other speakers included; Rosa Aronson (Executive Director- TESOL), Livia Lam (Education and Workforce Committee), Dr. Rosalinda Barrera (OELA), and various other staff members from the offices of Senators and Representatives who are vocal supporters of ELL issues.  The second day was spent conducting meetings with legislatives offices representing Minnesota.  I met with staffers in the offices of Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Al Franken, Chairman John Kline and Representative Eric Paulsen.  All four of my meetings were enlightening, empowering and successful.  The focus of our discussions was on the reauthorization of ESEA (No Child Left Behind) and the issues TESOL and ELL advocates have with the current law and proposed updates to the law.  We also talked about related issues such as early childhood education, adult education and the Dream Act, including the President’s recent executive order affecting children of undocumented immigrants.

Click here to read about TESOL Advocacy Day 2011.

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Advocacy Issues: Get Involved!

MinneTESOL is working to do more in the area of advocacy for ESL teachers and learners, as well as issues related to our profession such as immigration, language, and education policy. Are you interested in getting involved? We are forming an Advocacy Committee, and we need your help! Please contact Patsy Vinogradov at patsy@minnetesol.org.

Watch this page for more links and information related to advocacy issues. And if you have a link or resource we should share with our membership, please let us know!

Click here to access our ADVOCACY RESOURCES.

Notice from International TESOL

Position Statements:

TESOL Position Statement on EFL for Young Learners available here (726)


August 2012

TESOL International Association has just published its first Policy Brief on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals in the United States. The brief outlines the new policy by the Obama administration, and provides details on where you can find additional information.

The brief is available for download now on the TESOL web site.

July 2009

At its recent meeting, the TESOL Executive Committee approved two position statements for the association:

Copies of each of these position statements are attached; copies are also available online at http://www.tesol.org/PositionStatements.

Minnesota Legislative Reports on World Language

The legislature requires an annual district survey and report on the status of world languages published in February from 2008-2012.  The reports are posted on the Minnesota Department of Education Website.  There are several other reports with related information.  Each report contains an executive summary, background information, research and legislative recommendations.

http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Legislation/Reports_to_Legislature/index.html

Status of K-12 World Languages in Minnesota (2010)

http://www.education.state.mn.us/mdeprod/groups/Communications/documents/Report/016330.pdf