Gain strategies for empowering immigrant students, creating more welcoming classrooms and centering the immigrant voice across the curriculum in this free virtual conference.
Hosted by The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute and featuring experts from across the nation, learn how to:
- Foster belonging, identity and agency in your students
- Understand the immigration landscape today
- Build empathy through literature
- Incorporate immigration into your middle and high school social studies classes
- And much more!
The 2025 Immigrant Student Success virtual conference is free of charge, but you must register to participate. This virtual conference is designed for PreK-12 and adult educators, administrators, counselors, volunteers and librarians.
Certificates of completion are available upon request. It is the educator’s responsibility to ensure that they are meeting the requirements of their state or district.
Massachusetts educators:
The Immigrant Learning Center is a registered Professional Development Provider (PDP) by the State of Massachusetts. Select sessions from this conference are part of the Immigrant Student Success PDP course and the Immigration through History PDP course. Both courses are free.
Agenda (all times EDT)
10:30-11:30 AM: Early childhood and elementary educator session
11:30 AM-12:30 PM: Elementary, middle and high school educator session
–break–
1:00-2:00 PM: General interest session
2:00-3:00 PM: Middle and high school educator session
–break–
3:15-4:15 PM: Adult educator session
10:30-11:30 AM: Early Childhood and Elementary Educator Sessions
10:30 AM: Supporting Early Childhood and Elementary Immigrant Students
Iliana Alanís, PhD, Professor of Early Childhood/Elementary Education, The University of Texas at San Antonio
11:00 AM: Safe, Seen, and Supported: Building Inclusive Classrooms for Multilingual Learners
Tori Huynh, MEd, First Grade Teacher, Fairfax County Public School
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Design a culturally inclusive classroom library that reflects and celebrates the backgrounds of immigrant and multilingual students.
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Implement GLAD strategies (such as call-and-response, songs, and movement) to support language development and active engagement.
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Utilize communication tools like Talking Points and collaborate effectively with parent liaisons/translators to connect with families across languages.
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Establish a classroom culture where students feel safe, respected, and represented.
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Reflect on their own practices and commit to next steps toward creating a more inclusive and equitable learning environment.
11:30 AM-12:30 PM: Elementary, Middle and High School Educator Sessions
11:30 AM: I Can Read: Effective Fluency Strategies for SLIFE
Nicoleta Filimon, EdD, ELD Teacher, Haverhill High School
12:00 PM: Supporting Immigrant Students’ Mental Health in Schools and Communities
Sara Castro Olivo, Florida International University
12:30 PM-1:00 PM: Break
1:00-2:00 PM: General Interest Sessions
1:00 PM: Immigration Landscape Today
1:30 PM: Know Your Rights and Your Students’ Rights
2:00-3:00 PM: Middle and High School Educator Sessions
2:00 PM: Windows, Mirrors, and Migration: Tackling the Literacy Crisis and Building Empathy Through Literature
Jill Eisenberg, Vice President of Business Development, Curriculum and Literacy Strategy, Lee & Low Books
Meisha Lamb-Bell, Program Director, Re-Imagining Migration
Adam Strom, Executive Director, Re-Imagining Migration
Engaging with literature provides a unique opportunity to both understand ourselves at a deeper level and build empathy, understanding and connection with another’s story. In this loneliness epidemic and literacy crisis, fostering a love of critical reading and text engagement is more important than ever. Join Re-Imagining Migration and Lee & Low Books for an introduction to teaching about migration in literature for middle school and high school ELA programs.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
- Integrate migration into your curriculum and school communities rather than whiplash responses to the news cycle.
- Use the Re-Imagining Migration Resource Toolkit to create a more inclusive and reflective curriculum that addresses the themes of migration, belonging, identity and community.
- Thoughtfully integrated these critical themes into the classroom.
2:30 PM: Teaching Immigration in U.S. History
Ariana Moir, Education Program Manager, The Immigrant Learning Center
3:00-3:15 PM: Break
3:15-4:15 PM: Adult Educator Sessions
3:15 PM: Elements of Reading Instruction
Rachel Soule, Assistant Director of English Language Programs, The ILC
Learning to read in a second language involves more than just translating words. It requires targeted support in areas like vocabulary, word recognition, comprehension and fluency. A strong grasp of these components helps teachers design instruction that addresses the specific needs of adult English learners and empowers them to become confident, independent readers in English.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
- Identify and define the four key elements of reading instruction
- Identify why each element is important
- Sort examples of teaching practices into each element
- Reflect on what practices you might use or update in your work
On-Demand Session
Immigrant Students with Disabilities
Maria Serpa, EdD, Professor Emerita of Education and TESOL Bilingual-Special Education, Lesley University Graduate School of Education
