Dear MABE Members, District Administrators, Policy Makers, Teachers, Paraprofessional and Interested Parents and Family Members,
It is with great excitement that I write to you with news of the one-day Institute that MABE is offering on March 7, 2008. MABE has planned an educational institute that will feature two highly important and related educational strands- Special Education and Dual Language Education. In planning this institute, our hope is to bring to the forefront, some of the current knowledge, approaches and insights into how best to address the academic and cultural needs of special education, English language learners and dual language learners as they relate to these two educational areas. We will also connect to and embrace the question of family and community involvement for diverse learners in our special education programs and two-way immersion schools in the Commonwealth and throughout the New England area.
On March 7th, we are honored to be able to introduce two highly respected key-note speakers, Dr. Beth Harry and Dr. Mary Cazabon, whose inspirational thoughts and ideas will set the tone for this exciting event.
As a Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami School of Education, Dr. Harry’s teaching focuses on the impact of cultural diversity on education, on working with families of children with disabilities, and on qualitative methods in educational research. Dr. Harry’s research on multicultural family issues and on ethnic disproportionality in special education has been well received by the field and she had the honor of serving as a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ panel (1999-2001) to study disproportionality.
Dr. Cazabon, Director of Bilingual and ELL education in the Cambridge Public schools, is a leading expert in the development and implementation of two-way bilingual education program models. Her work focus includes educational reform - promoting the integration of linguistic minority and language majority students, comprehensive evaluations, and encouraging strong parental involvement. Dr. Cazabon is an adjunct professor at UMass in the Department of Applied Linguistics, and well known for her strong district leadership and support for dual language education. Dr4. Cazabon has a proven track record in the area of winning competitive grants that support and forward the professional development of ELL and Dual Language teachers with a focus on the academic achievement of language minority and majority students in integrated settings in public education.
In addition to our keynote speakers, you will be have the option of hearing from Dr. Shernaz Garcia, Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin, who will address the issue of parents and professional collaboration in the assessment process. We are also fortunate to bring to this MABE conference Dr. Elizabeth Howard, co-author of the book “Realizing the Vision of Two-Way Immersion – Fostering Effective Programs and Classrooms”, published by the Center for Applied Linguistics in 2007.
And lastly, we are pleased to be able to feature a panel of dual language teachers and coaches from leading two-way schools in Massachusetts, who will share with us the most current practices in how best to develop and provide programs that yield bilingualism and biliteracy for two-way immersion students in Massachusetts.
We look forward to seeing all of you on March 7th at MABE’s Institute of for Practitioners of Diverse Learners. Please note that registration forms can be downloaded from the MABE website (hppt://www.massmabe.org) and the New England Equity Assistance Center website (http:neeac.alliance.brown.edu) from January 15 to March 1, 2008.
Sincerely,
Debbie Sercombe
MABE President