On this edition of our Look for the Helpers series, we speak with Ruben Diaz, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction at Parlier Unified School District, a rural community in the Central Valley of California. Parlier is an agricultural community with a high percentage of English learners. During our conversation, Ruben talks about why his district has taken a 2 tier approach to roll out distance learning, beginning with reading and writing before going to speaking and listening. We also highlight how Parlier created an efficient drive-through device pick up system, complete with translated agreement contracts and bar codes to scan letters and devices. Finally, we discuss how this disruption may cause positive changes in education moving forward.

You can find all of the resources we mention in the episode on our Look for the Helpers short video series. If you'd like to join us on our Look for the Helpers series to share your story with the ELL Community, go to bit.ly/ELLHelper.

For more information and free resources to help engage multilingual learners from wherever they are, visit Ellevation Distance Learning.