Check Out the Many Languages One Voice and D.C. Language Access Coalition

HEY LANGUAGE TEACHERS! How could we partner with this organization?

http://www.dclanguageaccess.org/cm/

The D.C. Language Access Coalition is an alliance of community-based and civil rights organizations that advocates for language access rights within the District of Columbia.

Mayor Williams signing the D.C. Language Access Act of 2004 into law.

The D.C. Language Access Coalition's (Coalition) goal is to ensure that D.C. residents and workers who are limited English proficient (LEP) or non-English proficient (NEP) have equal access to the most essential government benefits and services including food stamps, Medicaid, health care, unemployment benefits, job training programs, public education, fire and emergency services, the police department and mental health services.

The Coalition is also committed to increasing the capacity and ability of under-represented immigrant communities to engage in social change efforts. We are also committed to strengthening the Coalition's ability to sustain ourselves over the long-term in order to tackle other access to justice issues impacting immigrant communities.

The work of the D.C. Language Access Coalition is currently prioritized into three language access campaign areas: education, healthcare, and human services. These service areas are of critical importance to the LEP population, but government agencies working in these areas consistently fail to fully comply with the Language Access Act of 2004. In addition, Coalition member organizations identify pressing language access issues faced by their communities at monthly meetings. The Coalition takes on these issues as special projects.

Middle School Teachers Can Make All the Difference

Check out this really interesting article about the transition from 5th grade to Middle School!

"The study, part of the Program on Education Policy and Governance Working Papers Series at Harvard University, found that students moving from grade 5 into middle school show a “sharp drop” in math and language arts achievement in the transition year that plagues them as far out as 10th grade, even risking thwarting their ability to graduate high school and go on to college. Students who make a school transition in 6th grade are absent more often than those who remain in one school through 8th grade, and they are more likely to drop out of school by 10th grade."