Written by: Christina Cunningham

Whether you’re just starting to teach bilingual learners or you’re already a veteran teacher in an immersion program, all teachers need opportunities to hone their practice and pedagogy. Luckily, there are plenty of professional development events in 2024 geared toward meeting the needs of bilingual learners. From a multiday conference to a one-hour webinar, there are formats for any teacher. Here’s our list of PD opportunities to check out this year!

Conferences & in-person workshops:

National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Annual Conference

March 26-30

New Orleans, LA

Cost: $695

This year’s NABE conference kicks off with school tours and a preconference event with speakers covering everything from dual-language, early childhood classrooms to explicit instruction. The full conference program can be found here. It boasts a robust agenda of sessions ranging from using SEL practices with bilingual students to working with newcomers to advocating for public policies that benefit bilingual learners. 

https://www.nabe-conference.com/index.html

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Annual Conference

November 6-9 

Anaheim, CA

Cost: TBD (last year’s early bird rate was $365 members/$530 nonmembers)

NAEYC’s annual conference schedule is still unreleased for this year, but one of the topic tracks includes Emerging Bilingual/Multilingual Learners. There are sure to be some amazing speakers discussing bilingual teaching tips and tricks in November. Stay tuned.

https://www.naeyc.org/events/annual/schedule

Teaching for Biliteracy Institutes

Dates vary by state (TX, IL, CA)

Cost: $750-$1,800

Teaching for Biliteracy offers several institutes held both online and in person throughout the year that help teachers in immersion programs achieve biliteracy for their students. Their workshops include state- and grade-level-specific offerings, as well as a workshop for those developing new dual-language programs. 

https://www.teachingforbiliteracy.com/events/

The Center for Applied Linguistics School Site Workshops

Dates/Cost: Flexible

The Center for Applied Linguistics offers a school-site workshop to prepare all school stakeholders for working with emerging bilingual students. Over two days, this workshop will provide actionable strategies and hands-on activities that are meant to help teachers and staff in any bilingual model (90/10, 50/50, immersion) to meet elementary students’ needs. 

https://solutions.cal.org/foundations-of-dual-language-education/

Online Modules/Micro-Credentials:

Stanford Graduate School of Education CLAD ELL Modules

Cost: Free

Once a part of certifying ELL teachers in California, these video modules from the Stanford Graduate School of Education are now free to the public. These modules cover all grade levels and subject areas, and also dive into topics like theory and policy. Use their 14 mini-modules to build a strong background in working with bilingual learners. 

https://web.stanford.edu/dept/gse/cgi-bin/clad/

National Education Association Micro-Credentials

Cost: Free to members, $75/credential for nonmembers

For teachers in traditional schools who work with English Language Learners, the National Education Association offers eight micro-credentials spanning topics like advocacy, formal and formative assessment strategies, and how to create standards-based lessons. Each credential requires about 15 hours of professional development, as well as artifacts, video or work samples, and other evidence to be awarded. 

https://nea.certificationbank.com/NEA/CandidatePortal/CategoryDetail.aspx?Stack=ELL

Webinars/Podcasts:

ELLevation Webinars and Podcast

Cost: Free

ELLevation, a leading educational company in the English language learner space (hence the name!) offers a bunch of multiformat professional development opportunities. Whether you prefer webinars, blog posts or podcasts, their PD offerings cover a wide range of topics from improving students’ academic vocabulary to math talks for multilingual learners. 

https://ellevationeducation.com/el-community/

Early Childhood Investigations Webinars

Cost: Free

Early Childhood Investigations Webinars is a site that hosts free training spanning almost every topic imaginable, including working with bilingual students. This site also provides free certificates for PD hour tracking. Just search their archives for relevant recordings to meet your professional development needs. 

https://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.com/

If none of these ideas seem like what you need, don’t sell yourself short. Use your knowledge to lead PD for your own school with this helpful guide from Edutopia. It covers topics, mindsets and activities that will be useful for planning a program that meets your teaching colleagues’ learning needs.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/professional-development-teaching-english-learners/

**On a side note, we know that professional development opportunities can be pricey. If you’re interested, but costs are prohibitive, check out some of these grants that can be specifically used for teachers’ professional development:

https://www.fundforteachers.org/

• NEA Foundation: https://www.neafoundation.org/educator-grants-and-fellowships/learning-leadership-grants/
• McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation: https://mccartheydressman.org/teacher-development-grants/

https://www2.ed.gov/programs/nfdp/index.html