The conference at the Nampa Civic Center will feature guest speakers Jose Luís Orozco, Dr. Fay Shin and Wendy St. Michell, and a concert of music aimed at youth.
"With the increasing numbers of English-language learners in our schools, educators need strategies to make instruction meaningful and comprehensible for the students," says Dr. Angela Luckey, ISU associate professor of education and IABE president. "The Idaho Association for Bilingual Education conference presentations provide innovative, practical ideas that work. The presentations are provided by practitioners in the field and these ideas are working to raise student achievement."
Orozco, an author and musician, will keynote the meeting on Thursday, Oct. 5. He specializes in music aimed at youth and learned many of his songs from his grandmother. He uses music to teach numbers, colors, letters and games in English and Spanish.
Orozco will present a workshop during the day, and a concert open to the public at a cost of $1 in the evening.
Shin, professor in the California State University, Long Beach, department of teacher education, will be the keynote speaker on Friday, Oct. 6. She has doctoral and master's degrees from the University of Southern California in teaching English as a Second Language, and a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
A former elementary and middle school teacher, Shin consults for school districts and conducts workshops nationally and internationally. Her research and publications focus on English language development, literacy and bilingual education. Her most recent work includes a program integrating English language development strategies with science content standards that is currently used in U.S. school districts.
St. Michell, the Limited English Proficiency Program manager for the Idaho State Board of Education, will be the luncheon speaker on Thursday, Oct. 5. A holder of a master's degree in international education, she has taught English to speakers of other languages internationally. She also has taught high school Spanish.
IABE leadership includes Luckey, president; Dr. Ellen Batt, chair of the Albertson College foreign language department, past president; Patricia Stephens, Kuna School District teacher, vice president; Zulema Macias, Cassia County Schools Newcomer Center director, treasurer; and Martha Hernandez, teacher in the Cassia County School District, secretary.