University of Oregon College of Education

Oregon educators and school leaders gathered Friday, February 8, 2008 on the University of Oregon campus for a day-long symposium on biliteracy and biculturalism sponsored by the College of Education’s Department of Teacher Education.

“Teacher educators and school leaders examined current research in biliteracy instruction to insure that Oregon’s increasing EL student population is receiving the best education possible,” says Edward M. Olivos, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the college who specializes in bilingual education and bicultural parent involvement and the organizer of the event.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, Oregon’s EL student population grew more than 130% from 1994 to 2004, more than double the national increase of 59% during this same time period.

“Oregon also has the distinction of having the highest retention rate of EL students in the nation in grades 7 to 12 with 21% of EL students not being promoted to the next grade,” adds Olivos, citing a 2002 report by the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs in Washington D.C.

“Biliteracy instruction and the preparation of teachers who are competent to address issues of instruction and assessment for the EL student have become critically important in the state of Oregon and in our department,” says Olivos. “We were very fortunate to have two nationally recognized experts visit our campus to share their expertise.”

Speakers Identify Oregon's Challenges in Light of California's Experience
Visiting experts included Alberto M. Ochoa, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Policy Studies in Language and Cross Cultural Education at San Diego State University. He has worked with over 60 school districts in providing technical assistance in the areas of: language policy and assessment, bilingual instructional programming, and curriculum programming. From 1975 to 1987, Ochoa directed one of ten national origin desegregation centers.

Karen Cadiero-Kaplan, Ph.D., San Diego State University, also presented at the symposium. Cadiero-Kaplan is past president of CATESOL (California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). Cadiero-Kaplan provides state and national leadership in the areas of English teaching and language policy and is active in working with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing as a member of the Bilingual Design Team.

Symposium guests included Oregon's chief state school superintendent Susan Castillo, four school district superintendents and 70 other participants—teachers, school and educational service district representatives from the I-5 corridor, including Tigard-Tualatin, Hillsboro, North Clackamas, Douglas, Salem-Keizer, Corvallis, Central Linn, Springfield, Eugene, and Bethel. University teacher education faculty from Lewis and Clark, Pacific, Western Oregon, and the UO College of Education are also represented. To learn more about the topics discussed, contact Edward M. Olivos, emolivos@uoregon.edu .