Bilingual Resource Teacher (Spanish) - Leopold - 0.2 FTE - 26-27 SY

About the role

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) is the second-largest school district in Wisconsin, serving a beautifully diverse population of more than 25,000 students. More than half are students of color, almost half come from low-income households, nearly one-third are English Language Learners, and more than 100 languages are represented in our schools. MMSD is committed to being anti-racist, culturally responsive, and inclusive, with a vision that every school is a thriving school preparing every student to graduate ready for college, career, and community. The district seeks staff who will actively contribute to making MMSD a thriving, welcoming environment for all students, families, and staff.

Responsibilities

• Instructional Supports & Service Delivery
  • Provide supplementary instruction for targeted English Language Development within or outside the classroom to English Learners (ELs) in general education environments across program types (ELI, DLI-DBE, Hmong Heritage Programs). Activities outside the classroom should be for a limited duration and target academic language development needs of newcomers.
  • Provide English language development instruction for EL students who have been in U.S. schools for less than one calendar year (Newcomers per DPI) for key content areas in high school.
  • Establish consistent communication with, and guidance to, Bilingual Resource Specialists (BRS) regarding student needs, instructional support, and family outreach.
  • Help create school-wide welcoming environments and support inclusion of EL students in instructional settings.
  • Work with the building administrator and Multilingual Services and Programs staff to coordinate service delivery that is inclusive and conforms to district protocols and requirements for English language learners.
  • Serve as an integral member of the school-based team responsible for student placement and scheduling to ensure compliance with state and federal law regarding ESL services.
  • Work with librarian and/or Instructional Coach to purchase culturally and linguistically relevant materials.
  • Participate as active team members in discussions of academic, transition, secondary options, graduation, and career/vocational post-secondary planning for ELs.
  • Serve on Student Support and Intervention Teams (MTSS) to ensure culturally and linguistically responsive practices throughout the referral process when the student in question is an EL.
  • Participate as active team members (not as interpreters) in IEP meetings for ELs to represent the student's language development needs.
• Assessment Support
  • Administer English language proficiency assessments and screeners including WIDA Kindergarten Screener, WIDA Screener Online, and ACCESS 2.0 (including bilingual screeners when applicable).
  • Monitor students' ability to access grade-level curriculum through ongoing formative assessment in collaboration with general education staff.
  • Collaborate with non-ESL staff to ensure ELs have appropriate and adequate assessment scaffolds in assessments of core content learning (formative, interim, and summative).
  • Provide professional learning to colleagues to ensure that content-related language growth is measured and reported.
  • Support classroom teachers in understanding how to use English Language Development observation tools and how to use data to guide instructional planning.
  • Collaborate with School Testing Coordinators to ensure appropriate testing accommodations are provided for ELs in district and state-mandated assessments, reflecting routine classroom instruction and assessment scaffolds.
• Family Involvement
  • Serve as one of the communication links among student, families, and school staff in collaboration with classroom teachers.
  • Participate in parent-teacher conferences that include ELs served by the BRT/ESL teachers in collaboration with the general education classroom teacher.
  • Collaborate with Bilingual Resource Specialists (BRS) and other staff to coordinate communication with families.
  • Provide families of ELs with information related to MMSD and the U.S. educational system, including the process of identifying ELs.
• Bilingual Resource Teachers working in 4K environments
  • Provide support for the development of social language in a play-based environment for students whose parents have indicated the presence of another language on the Home Language Survey.
  • Provide support with routines related to instructional activities.
  • Collect anecdotal notes under the observational assessment framework while interacting with the children (no individualized or standardized testing or pull-out).
  • Review and use the 4K benchmarks.
  • Collaborate with classroom teachers during planning time to embed language strategies to support students whose guardian has indicated the presence of another language in the Home Language Survey.
• EL Case Management
  • Serve as Case Managers for ELs to provide a school-based contact/advocate for parents and students.
  • Explain EL Data Management forms to parents to keep them informed of their student's academic status.
  • Document EL Data and file paperwork for ELs: identify potential ELs from Home Language Survey information; gather information to determine whether a student should be assessed for English language proficiency; communicate with families; assess students who meet criteria for language screening.
  • Report WIDA Screener Online/WIDA Kindergarten Screener scores of qualifying students