WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENT
TITLE: A Comprehensive Literacy Policy for Multilingual Learners: Research and Practice
DATE: September 22, 2026
TIME: 4:00–5:30 p.m. ET
DETAILS:
Literacy is foundational to educational success. In today’s world this includes not only reading but also writing and multimodal communication. For multilingual learners, English literacy development is an enduring challenge as U.S. school systems fail to engage in linguistically and culturally responsive teaching practices and instead fall back on systems and policies designed for fluent and monolingual English speakers. The current movement that promotes specific policies and practices in the name of the “science of reading” unfortunately, is no exception. A recent report from the Center for Applied Linguistics analyzed state policies related to reading reform and found that very few states specifically considered MLs in the legislative efforts.
Join the Center for Applied Linguistics, the Center on English Language Proficiency at the Center for Equity for English Learners, Loyola Marymount University andthe National Committee for Effective Literacy, for a national webinar addressing this gap. In this webinar, we will present a comprehensive framework for literacy for multilingual learners, followed by examples from practitioners who connect the research on and for multilingual learners to reading reform efforts.
The webinar will begin with findings from CAL’s recent research brief, Legislating Literacy Instruction: Where Are Multilingual Learners?, which examined literacy legislation across all 50 states. The analysis found that although most states have enacted literacy legislation, multilingual learners are too often absent or only minimally addressed in state policy, highlighting important opportunities to strengthen literacy legislation and implementation.
Using a multilingual lens and research, presenters will introduce NCEL’s A Comprehensive K–3 Literacy Policy for Multilingual Learners, a framework that reflects decades of research on multilingual learners that helps states, districts, and communities develop, review, and strengthen literacy policies. The framework identifies the instructional practices, enabling conditions, and systems of support necessary to ensure multilingual learners achieve grade-level literacy while advancing English proficiency, home language development, and biliteracy.
The webinar will conclude with a panel featuring state and local perspectives on advancing comprehensive literacy for multilingual learners. Panelists will share how research and advocacy has informed statewide literacy policy in Illinois and how a local education agency (Dodge City, Kansas) has translated research into comprehensive literacy policies and practices that center the strengths and needs of English learners and multilingual learners.
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