Conference Session - Beyond Student Labels: Strengthening Systems for Multilingual Learners with Disabilities

SEAL's Executive Director Anya Hurwitz, Ph.D., will join Sobrato Philanthropies, CAST, and the Hewlett Foundation for a session at the Grantmakers for Education Annual Conference exploring how philanthropy can shape solutions for the whole child. Don’t miss this opportunity to discover innovative approaches that create more equitable classrooms for all students.

Date: October 17, 2024

Time: 10:45 a.m. -12:00 p.m. CST

Session Description:

School systems are organized to serve students according to labels. But in reality, most students bring intersectional identities, making the work of supporting them equitably and holistically more complex. For our democracy to give every student the opportunity to thrive, educators must understand how different identities interact to deploy effective strategies in the classroom. In this session, we will unpack this issue through the lens of multilingual learners with disabilities and Universal Design for Learning and explore how philanthropy can invest to address the whole child.

Presenters:

• Anya Hurwitz, Ph.D., Executive Director, SEAL
• Robert Medina, Director, English Learner Program, Sobrato Philanthropies
• Lindsay Jones, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Applied Special Technologies
• Angela DeBarger, Program Officer, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Conference Track: Education transformation: moving from silos to systems

Focus Areas: Academic learning (e.g. STEM, literacy, etc.), Educators, Capacity building

About the Conference:

Education for a Thriving Democracy

Truth, Discourse and Transformation

What is the public promise of education in a vibrant and inclusive multiracial democracy? In an era when democratic processes are routinely tested, defended and changed, this is the central question that education philanthropy is poised to engage at the Grantmakers for Education 2024 Annual Conference.

This is a landmark year, with a national election in the U.S. and milestone anniversaries of historic moments and movements: passage of the Indian Citizenship Act, the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Stonewall Riots, and more recently, the launch of the internet, global social platforms and artificial intelligence. These and other pivotal events demonstrate that transformational change comes from the efforts of individuals and collectives to reconcile tensions, affirm truths, exchange ideas and act. Education philanthropy has long been active in this process and plays a role in setting expectations and resourcing imaginations and efforts to impact the transformation of education.

At this year’s conference, we will be inspired to sharpen our thinking about teaching, learning, civic participation and equity in the democratic ideal. We will be challenged to expand our ideas about how individual grantmakers and philanthropic organizations show up. We will zoom in on concrete actions and zoom out to ideas and a range of frameworks that grantmakers may need to ensure all learners and leaders may participate fully in their classrooms and communities, with deep and broad opportunities for achievement, mobility, fulfillment and human flourishing.

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