We are honored to welcome North Carolina State Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice “Mo” Green as the Keynote Speaker for this year’s Growing Success for MLs and The Standards Academy summer conferences.
Tuesday July 22, 2025 11:00am - 12:45pm EDT Auditorum
Participants will explore key strategies for launching and sustaining a Dual Language Immersion program at the secondary level. The session will cover startup tips, potential partnerships, and effective ways to promote the program. A special focus will be on supporting multilingual learners through inclusive program design and equitable access. By the end of the session, participants will leave with practical exemplars and customizable templates to support their own program planning.
The session will provide hands-on Early Learning activities( K-2) for ML students while connecting each activity to the WIDA ELD standards. Using realia, nature, and everyday household items, teachers will be able to build vocabulary and phonemic awareness while students learn the power of their existing L1 through early exposure to cognates.
Influenced by practices from frameworks like Reading Apprenticeship and SIOP, this session aims to provide a variety of strategies for teaching students how to annotate texts. These strategies are for all students, ML or not, newcomer or long-term ML. By implementing strategies such as Vocabulary Self-Selection, Circle Maps, and deep dives with repeated reading, you can provide your students with access to higher-level texts, cover more ground with less time, reduce the volume of explicit teaching, and allow students a chance to demonstrate their own capabilities independently.
Hi!I'm a veteran ESL teacher in Wake County, halfway through my 7th year of teaching. I currently teach high school ESL and 12th grade English (Sheltered / SIOP), and I've taught middle school, as well.I've taught all kinds of multilingual learners (MLs), from long-term learners who... Read More →
Get students future-ready without adding to your plate—this session shows how to blend the NC Digital Standards for Students into your existing lessons with purpose and creativity. We’ll break down the standards, spotlight real classroom examples, and share easy ways to teach digital skills alongside content, not separate from it.
Digital Learning Initiative Consultant, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
Dr. Ashley McBride is the Digital Learning Initiative Section Chief for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Her role is to support PSUs and schools with their understanding and implementation of the North Carolina Digital Learning Plan. You can reach out to Ashley... Read More →
Jennifer served as a public educator for 29 years, holding roles such as teacher, instructional coach, and professional development facilitator. In 2023, Jennifer joined the NCDPI as an Innovative Learning Catalyst, and now serves as the North Central DTL Consultant. Her dedication... Read More →
Multilingual learners benefit from rigorous, high-quality instruction that is appropriately scaffolded to support language needs. In an effort to provide equitable access to core curriculum, this session will focus on enhancement of high-yield instructional strategies to support MLs’ access to content. Participants will learn how to enhance strategies by scaffolding them to meet the needs of all learners. The session will explore the power of distributive summary through collaborative pairs, numbered heads, and think-ink-pair-share to promote engagement and interaction of MLs.
Amanda Berry is currently in her twenty-third year in education. Amanda began her teaching career as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at the elementary level in July of 2001 and is currently one of four Title III/ESL Coordinating Teachers for Elementary Education in the... Read More →
We will explore the research base behind the Project GLAD® model and how the brain learns. Participants will leave prepared to deliver content using high yield strategies that are beneficial for all students and essential for multilingual learners. These strategies are appropriate for all students regardless of grade level or academic needs.
Through collaboration and high expectations. Participants will engage in hands-on writing workshops, peer-feedback activities, and explore tools for collaborative writing. Learn to foster critical thinking, creativity, and excellence in student writing while creating actionable plans to implement in the classroom.
ML Teacher, Instructional Coach, Elon Park Elementary
As an experienced ESL teacher and instructional coach, I am passionate about fostering equitable learning environments for multilingual learners. With a background in English Learning and over a decade of teaching experience, I’ve developed a strong commitment to promoting family... Read More →
During this session, attendees will learn how English Language Development (ELD) Standards can be effectively integrated into content area classrooms. Attendees will learn how ELD Standards promote the integration of content and language, recognizing that academic content serves as the context for language learning, while language is the means for learning academic content. Participants will explore the ELD Standards Hub and research-based, standards-aligned practices to support all content areas.
During this session, attendees will experience a three-dimensional approach to teaching, learning, and formative assessment by investigating scientific phenomena. Participants will discuss how the three dimensions from A Framework for K-12 Science Education - Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI), Science & Engineering Practices (SEP), and Crosscutting Concepts (CCC) - connect to the 2023 K-12 Science Standards. The intended audience includes K-12 science teachers, administrators, and instructional coaches.
Secondary Science Consultant, NC Department of Public Instruction
Alexis Wood joined the NCDPI Office of Academic Standards after teaching high school for 20 years in Lenoir and Wake Counties. Her primary job as a member of the Office of Academic Standards Science Team is to provide support to PSUs at the secondary science level that ensures the... Read More →
Secondary Science Consultant, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
Gavin Fradel is a science consultant in the K-12 Standards, Curriculum and Instruction section in the Office of Academic Standards at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Gavin obtained his Undergraduate teaching degree in Middle Grades Education with a concentration... Read More →
In this session, participants will explore the components of the new honors policy and learn how to assess current honors-level courses to ensure they meet the required depth and complexity. They will explore the Honors Level Course Development and Evaluation Tool, along with other resources. Additionally, participants will deepen their knowledge of advanced learning indicators and engage with best-practice instructional strategies that support honors-level coursework.
I began my teaching career in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in both elementary and special education classrooms. I spent most of my time in the classroom as a middle school ELA teacher in the Alamance/Burlington School System. I have also been an AIG specialist at the elementary... Read More →
Kelly Schultz entered the field of education in the Spring of 2008 as a secondary English Language Arts teacher. She has since progressed in the field serving as a curriculum coach, MTSS District Coordinator, and NCDPI Education Consultant. Kelly has taught in both Illinois and North... Read More →
The North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS) for English Language Arts (ELA) outlines what students should know and be able to do by the end of the school year—but what does that really look like in daily instruction? In this K-12 session, we’ll unpack the ELA standards and dig into how they build across grade levels. Through collaborative discussions and real-world classroom examples, attendees will gain a better idea as to what standards-aligned instruction could look like in practice and how they support student growth in all areas of literacy. Please note: This session has been designed for the current ELA SCOS adopted in 2017.
Secondary English Language Arts Consultant, NC Department of Public Instruction
John Davis is a Secondary English Language Arts Consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, where he works to align his passion for literacy and the humanities with the important work of academic standards and pedagogy. John has been committed to public education... Read More →
This session invites educators to reimagine their teaching practices through the lens of language equity and access. Participants will explore practical strategies to transform instructional obstacles into opportunities for inclusion and engagement. Centered on the diverse needs of multilingual learners, this session emphasizes how thoughtful lesson planning can create equitable learning experiences. The session will highlight key principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and culturally responsive teaching, guiding educators in creating lessons that support language development without compromising content rigor.
The session will focus on how we transformed North Carolina SCOS and ELD Standards into a dynamic ESL Curriculum Guide. We will share our journey of crafting a guide that seamlessly bridges high-level standards and everyday classroom practice. Discover how we designed intentional lesson plans for English learners., and leave with fresh insights and practical strategies to bring this approach into your own classroom.
This session showcases how a school district transformed its approach to welcoming multilingual newcomer students through an innovative project inspired by Solito. In this project, students shared their personal stories, published them in a book, and celebrated their voices at a book release party where they read excerpts aloud. This initiative blossomed into district-wide roundtable discussions, a student ambassador program, and welcoming video tours created by students for newcomers.
Join us to explore the step-by-step process of implementing this powerful initiative, hear testimonials from students, and learn practical strategies for replicating the project in your schools. Participants will leave inspired and equipped to elevate newcomer voices, foster belonging, and create a more inclusive school culture.
Discover how AI can support educators to personalize ML support within the MTSS framework by organizing resources, identifying actionable insights and creating resources using high leverage practices in seconds. This session will equip participants with the foundational skills to navigate and create using NotebookLM. Walk away with a complete, customizable knowledge base and practical approaches to integrating AI into instructional planning and decision-making.
Western DTL Consultant, NCDPI/Digital Teaching and Learning
Stacy Lovdahl has 24 years of experience as a state and district-level education technologist. She is an AI literacy trainer, the Western DTL Consultant for NCDPI, an Instructional Technology Facilitator and a middle school science teacher. Stacy has dedicated significant efforts... Read More →
Are you looking for new ways to effectively support the growth of your multilingual learners in your classroom, school, or district? Join our team of two ESL teachers from a high-ML population school in Wake County to learn more. Our ESL team has spent the last three years cultivating a culture of advocacy, collaboration, and professional learning within our school. The process of making the necessary changes that foster advocacy, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing has led our school’s multilingual learners to make exceptional growth that has been recognized at the district level. We will be unpacking our structure for professional learning around high-yield instructional strategies for MLs, our model for collaboration with classroom teachers, and our journey in co-teaching. Our session will focus on our steps that led to these results so that session participants can walk away with action steps for your class, school, or district.
