CULTURAL PROFICIENCY & EQUITYÂ Â PATHWAY
3 Course Series
In this 15-hour Pathway, you will consider your school district's growing special student populations and learn more about your unaccompanied youth and refugee families' backgrounds, histories, and needs. You will also explore trauma-informed practices that support newcomer students through the difficult transition into U.S. schools.
15 PD HOURS | $275.00
Register NowThe Cultural Proficiency & Equity Pathway includes:
COURSE 2
Understanding the Backgrounds of Refugee Students & Families
5 PD HOURS | $95.00
COURSE 1
Supporting Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth in U.S. Schools
 We are experiencing another large wave of unaccompanied immigrant children crossing the Southern border. These youth are in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and then reunify with family members and other sponsors in our communities. What brings these youth to the U.S., what happens when they get here, and how do they end up in our classrooms? What type of education, if any, do they receive while in ORR custody and how can we support these students when they enroll in our schools?
5 PD HOURS | $95.00
Register Now
Learning Objectives
- Describe who unaccompanied immigrant youth are, including basic demographic characteristics and their reasons for coming to the U.S.
- Examine the Flores agreement and the role of Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the lives of unaccompanied immigrant youth
- Analyze what happens to children between the border and your classroom, including what is involved in locating a sponsor
- Explore the social-emotional, educational, and legal experiences of these youth as they reunify with family members, enroll in and adjust to school, and await their immigration hearings
- Develop strategies for supporting unaccompanied immigrant students in your classroom and school.
Course Features
- Self-Paced: Flexible learning components for you can work on at times that are most convenient to you.Â
- 5 Professional Development Hours upon successful completion
- Practical Application activities for you to apply course strategies and tools
We need this to be compulsory for all teachers in our county. Because I work with ESOL I have been doing extensive reading about their situation but those students go to general ed classes with teachers who may not have even thought about what's behind the stories of these children, apart from the fact that "they just don't speak the language".
-High School ESOL Teacher, Maryland
COURSE 2
Understanding the Backgrounds of Refugee Students & Families
While refugees are typically a small percentage of English Learners in the U.S., those that we do have often have complex backgrounds and needs. Do you have students from Congo, Bhutan/Nepal, Burma, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, Ukraine, or other war-torn countries? If so, this training is for you! Even if your students arrived a few years ago, this course provides valuable information on how you can continue to support your refugee students and families as they integrate and adjust to the U.S. overall, and specifically with education.
5 PD HOURS | $95.00
Register Now
Learning Objectives
- Discuss the U.S. Refugee Program as well as the Refugee School Impact Program
- Examine best practices and strategies for refugee family and community engagement, addressing social-emotional concerns, and supporting refugee students in school
- Identify the primary refugee populations being resettled by the U.S. government as well as sociocultural and educational characteristics of each.
Course Features
- Self-Paced: Flexible learning components for you can work on at times that are most convenient to you.Â
- 5 Professional Development Hours upon successful completion
- Practical Application activities for you to apply course strategies and tools
"You said many things that made me reflect about our profound ignorance in this topic. We teachers are missing an important piece in the story behind each refugee. How and why they got here and the “now what?”. Thank you for the training and the wonderful resources you shared with is."
-High School Educator in Florida
COURSEÂ 3
Trauma Informed Teaching + Social Emotional Learning
When schools reopen, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) will be critical in creating a safe, supportive, and engaging learning environment for ALL students to thrive. Social-Emotional Learning will allow us to support our students’ successful transition back to school. And it benefits us as well as we return to work given the new “norm.”
5 PD HOURS | $95.00
Register Now
Learning Objectives
- Create more self-awareness, more relationship-building skills, and more insights on responsibly managing your students
- Develop meaningful interactive experiences that support the learning target and allow English Learners to both participate and to demonstrate their learning.
Course Features
- Self-Paced: Flexible learning components for you can work on at times that are most convenient to you.Â
- 5 Professional Development Hours upon successful completion
- Practical Application activities for you to apply course strategies and tools
About the Instructor
Laura Gardner
Laura has nearly 20 years of experience working in education, refugee resettlement, and social work. While in education, she worked as a district level manager for immigrant family and community engagement as well as a school social worker. Laura also worked for Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services (BRYCS) managing their national technical assistance initiative to federal Refugee School Impact Grantees.
Laura has facilitated professional development on building the capacity of teachers and school systems to engage immigrant families in their children’s education, language access, cultural competency, equity, unaccompanied immigrant children, immigrant family reunification, and refugee resettlement. Laura holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in Education.
