Conference Overview

2010 English as a Second Language (ESL) Conference

Assuring Academic Achievement for English Language Learners
through the Standards Aligned System

June 21 - 22, 2010  -  Hilton Harrisburg  -  Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 


Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and the Center for Schools and Communities invite you to join us in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the 2010 English as a Second Language (ESL) Conference Assuring Academic Achievement for English Language Learners through the Standards Aligned System at the Hilton Harrisburg, June 21-22, 2010. The conference will bring together teachers, school administrators, school board members, ESL content and migrant educators and policy-makers.

This year's conference will focus on the PDE's Standards Aligned System (SAS) and will support school districts as they work to strengthen the education of English Language Learners (ELLs) through general sessions and instructional best practice workshops.

The SAS is a comprehensive approach to support student achievement across the Commonwealth. The SAS model is comprised of six elements that strengthen subject content and enhance classroom preparation and instruction.

  1. Clear Standards - Pennsylvania Standards describe what students should know and what they should be able to do as they progress through the various grade levels.
  2. Fair Assessment - Process used by teachers and students before, during and after instruction to provide feedback and adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve student achievement.
  3. Curriculum Framework - Content development framework that takes into account big ideas, concepts, competencies and essential questions.

  4. Instruction - Instruction with teaching topics that align with the standards, ensure the right level of challenge, focus on teaching based on student learning needs and implement instructional strategies that increase student achievement.

  5. Materials and Resources - Useful materials and resources aligned to the Pennsylvania standards within curriculum frameworks including Voluntary Model Curriculum, learning progressions, units, lesson plans and content resources.

  6. Interventions - Comprehensive system of interventions to ensure students are provided with the standards based supports they need to meet/exceed grade level standards.

For additional information on Pennsylvania’s SAS, click here.