Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Woburn school officials report expanded multilingual services, new data tools and grant awards
Summary
Director Rania Caldwell briefed the committee on growth in multilingual learner (ML) enrollment, new coaching and data tools (Elevation and LastLinks), and a string of state competitive and targeted grants aimed at ESL certification, interpretation training and curriculum purchases.
The Woburn School Committee heard a comprehensive update Wednesday from Rania Caldwell, the district’s multilingual (ML) program director, who detailed student demographics, staffing, new monitoring tools and multiple recent grant awards.
Caldwell said the district has about 704 students identified as current English learners and roughly 150 former English learners (monitored for four years after exit), representing roughly 850 students who factor into accountability and compliance reporting. She noted 37 languages are represented among ML students and 62 languages districtwide; Portuguese is the largest language group, followed by Spanish, Haitian Creole and Arabic.
To speed language services, Caldwell said the district piloted summer screening for newly enrolled students and assessed more than 150 students in three weeks so teachers could begin services sooner in the school year. She also announced the district added two ML coaches (elementary and…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
