¡D.A.L.E.! (Developing Academic Leaders In Education) is a paid, ongoing fellowship that develops and prepares teams of ESL teachers and general education teachers to better support students who are English language learners so that they can thrive at school.
More than 2,700 students in New Orleans are English Language Learners (ELL) and that population continues to grow. In 2019, the average ACT score for high school students who were ELL was 15, far below the national average ACT score of 20.8. Overall, the graduation rate for students who are ELL in New Orleans in 2019 was only 40.1%.
To support these students, OVNV is dedicated to building the capacity of our teachers and supporting them as leaders in our city.
About the fellowship:
¡DALE! (Developing Academic Leaders In Education) is a paid, ongoing fellowship that will select four school teams to develop EL teachers and general education teachers. It’s mission is to develop highly skilled teams of teachers to improve the quality of EL programming in schools and create environments where students who are EL will thrive.
In 2022, ¡DALE! will select four school teams of three teachers each. Teams will be made up of an EL teacher/coordinator and two general education teachers. The 6-month fellowship will consist of in-person and virtual professional development and consultancies. Teachers will focus on grounding teaching practices in equity through critical race theory, developing deep knowledge of EL pedagogy including SIOP, building advocacy and justice skills, and creating a school-wide project to benefit students. Teachers will also be joining the larger ¡DALE! Community where they will be building and sharing knowledge with previous cohorts.
Fellowship structure:
By accepting teams, ¡DALE! ensures that the development attained during the course of the fellowship doesn’t just affect a single classroom, but instead creates school-wide change. ¡DALE! targets high school teams to boost graduation rate and dramatically increase educational outcomes for students who are EL. Every year one K-8 school will be accepted into the program in order to strengthen the continuity of inclusive educational practices as students progress from one educational setting to the next.
Strategies and practices cannot be properly utilized in a school without first changing mindsets. The fellowship begins with a weekend retreat focused on equity and cultural responsiveness to lay the foundation for future sessions. Afterwards fellows meet in-person once a month through June for in-depth learning session. In between in-person sessions, fellows participate in monthly virtual workshops to practice and refine what they learned. At the end of the fellowship, fellows will participate in an event to showcase their design projects to educational leaders from across the city and state.
Meet the 2022 ¡D.A.L.E! Cohort from Living School, Einstein Sherwood Forrest, Las Sierras Academy, and Young Audiences at Crocker!
