Resources to help educators with the diverse educational needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) and World Languages.

OBEWL Newsletters | Immigrants | ELLs | NYSESLAT & NYSITELL | ESSA Language & Culture | Cultural Organizations | Professional Learning Opportunities | Teacher Certification

NEW GUIDANCE!

• Supplementary Certificate and Supplementary Bilingual Education Extension Flexibilities
  The Board of Regents permanently adopted regulatory amendments at its January 2024, November 2024, and October 2025 meetings to the Supplementary certificate requirements in order to provide flexibility for certified teachers who apply for the Supplementary English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) certificate, and for teachers who hold a valid Initial, Professional, or Permanent ESOL certificate and apply for a Supplementary certificate in another area through August 31, 2026.
• WIDA Administration Dates 2026-27
• Supporting Immigrant Students and Families: A Guide for NYS Secondary School Counselors
• CTE MLL Quick Reference Guides
• 2026 NYSESLAT School Administrators Manual
• Memo - Joining the WIDA Consortium and New English Language Proficiency Assessments (October 8, 2025)
• Memo - Exemptions from Diploma Assessment Requirements for Major Life Events (March 11, 2025)
• An Administrator’s Guide for Supporting the Implementation of the Co-Teaching Instructional Model Within Integrated ENL Settings
• Attorney General James Issues Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Guidance for Schools (March 5, 2025)
• Spanish Edition of Earth and Space Sciences Reference Table (Updated March 2025)
  Minor updates have been made to the Spanish edition of the Earth and Space Sciences Reference Table based on feedback from bilingual science educators.
• Memo: Option to Provide Virtual Instruction (February 2025)
• New York State Accountability ELP Fact Sheet for the 25-26 SY (February 2025)
• Safeguarding the Rights of New York State Immigrant Students (January 2025)
  This document is available in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese - Simplified, English, French, Haitian, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tajik, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Uzbek.
• New York State Guidance on Safeguarding the Rights of Immigrant Students (January 2025)
• An Administrator’s Guide for Supporting the Implementation of the Co-Teaching Instructional Model Within Integrated ENL Settings (November 2024)

OBEWL Newsletters 

• Winter 2026
• Previous Newsletters

Immigrants 

• A Guide to Community-Based Organizations for Immigrants
• Educational Services for Recently Arrived Evacuees, Refugees, Immigrants and/ or Unaccompanied Children (April 2022)
• Enrolling students who are refugees and asylum seekers (October 2, 2023)
• Foreign Transcript Evaluations (PDF Version)
• K-12 Resources for Afghan Evacuees (US Department of Education January 14, 2022)
• NYSED Statement on Rights of Newly Arrived Immigrants (August 15, 2023)
• Potential Effects of the War in Ukraine on School Communities (May 2022)
• Provision of Educational Services for Recently Arrived Unaccompanied Children and Youth (May, 26, 2021)
• Resources for Ukrainian Parents and Students
• Resource Guide for the Education of New York State Students from Caribbean Countries Where English is the Medium of Instruction
• Vaccinations in Refugee Children: New York State and New York City Recommendations and Guidelines
• Welcome to Our Schools Program - This program is designed by the Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance (BRIA) to ease the transition of refugee children into the elementary and secondary schools of New York State.

ELLs 

• Academic and Linguistic Demands: Creating Access to the Next Generation Learning Standards in English Language Arts for Linguistically Diverse Learners
• Art as a Tool for Teachers of ELLs   
• Bilingual Education Resources: Supporting and Sustaining Initiative
• Bilingual and English as a New Language Services for English Language Learners who are Students with Disabilities
• Bilingual Study Notes for Elementary Science and Social Studies
• Co-Teaching for ELLs
• CR Part 154 Documents
• Effective Practices for Holistically Educating English Language Learners in New York State
• Glossaries and Instructional Materials
• New York State Seal of Biliteracy
• NYSED Bilingual Education Toolkit
• Promising Instructional Practices for Secondary English Language Learners (Grade 7-12)
• Resource Collection for World Languages
• Roadmap to College for English Language Learners/Multilingual Learners
• Students with Interrupted/Inconsistent Formal Education (SIFE) Resources
• Template for Content Area and English as a New Language Planning
• Topic Briefs 5 to 8 for Integrated Co-Teaching in the English as a New Language Classroom is now available

NYSESLAT & NYSITELL 

• 2025 NYSESLAT School Administrator's Manual (SAM) (March 2025)
• Memo: NYSESLAT—Determining an English Language Learner’s (ELL) English Language Proficiency Level (July 2025)
• Memo: NYSESLAT—Determining an English Language Learner’s (ELL) English Language Proficiency Level (August 2024)
• Memo: NYSESLAT—Determining an English Language Learner’s (ELL) English Language Proficiency Level (August 2023)
• NYSITELL Information

ESSA 

• Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
• New York State's ESSA Plan for Growth in English Language Proficiency (ELP) Webinar
• FAQs on Incorporating ELL/MLL Progress into the NYSED Accountability System using a Transition Matrix 

Language and Culture 

• Culturally Responsive Back-to-School Titles for Students and Educators
• Haitian Creole Language Arts Curriculum Project (Grades K-5) 
  Introduction | Grade K | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 
• Language and Culture Guides - Concise descriptions of the languages and cultures our students bring with them - with great tips for educators. 
  Arabic, NY Arab-American Demographic Sheet, Bengali, Burmese, Burma Facts, Chinese, French, Haitian, Karen, Karen Cultural Tips & Trends, Korean, Native American, Russian, Somali, Urdu
• Spanish Native Language Arts Curriculum Guide (SNLACG) 
  The Spanish Native Language Arts Curriculum Guide (SNLACG) was developed as an initiative of the NYC Department of Education’s Office of English Language Learners (OELL). It represents a consensus among a Native Language Arts (NLA) core group of Spanish-language educators and administrators, and is the first integration of its kind of all four New York State Language Learning Standards: Native Language Arts (NLA), English Language Arts (ELA), English as a Second Language (ESL), and Languages Other Than English (LOTE).
• Suggested Spanish Literature and Reading Books for Grades K-12
• Supplementary American History Reading Materials in Chinese

Cultural Organizations 

• CHINESE 
  China Institute
• FRENCH 
  French Institute Alliance Française
• HAITIAN CREOLE 
  EspasKreyòl
• GERMAN 
  Goethe-Institut New York
• RUSSIAN 
  Pushkin Society in America
• SPANISH 
  Agregaduría de Educación en Nueva York 
  Instituto Cervantes New York

Teacher Certification 

• Bilingual Education and/or TESOL Certification Requirements
• Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) – ELL Requirements
• Pathway to ESOL Teachers to Obtain Content Area Supplemental Certification
• Pathway for Content Area Teachers to Obtain Supplementary Certification in ESOL