Important Dates:

• Call for Proposal Reviewers: Apply by Nov 1
• Call for Proposals: Due Dec 1
• Conference registration: Opens Jan 8, 2024
• Teaching Tip Proposals: Due Apr 3 
• Poster Session Proposals: Due May 1
• In-Person Conference: May 29-31 in Framingham MA
• Virtual Conference: Jun 5-7 Online

Do you know other amazing educators who would benefit from the support, sharing and professional learning offered to MATSOL members? You can help grow our MATSOL community and share the membership experience with your colleagues by nominating someone for MATSOL membership at a 30% discounted rate. We hope you will take this opportunity to act as a MATSOL ambassador by sharing what MATSOL has to offer with someone who is new to the field or new to MATSOL. Nominations due by September 30, 2023.

Thank you to Fitchburg State University 
for hosting the 2023-24 MELLC meetings.

Tuesday, Sep 19, 2023 4pm Online.

Staff from the MIRA Coalition will provide updates and answer questions about initiatives to support immigrants in Massachusetts including the Tuition Equity Act, which grants in-state tuition for undocumented students. MIRA Coalition is one of MATSOL's advocacy partners. Their vision is a Commonwealth – and a nation – where all can thrive, no matter where they came from or how they got here, and all can fully participate in their community’s social, economic, and civic life. 

The Cherish Act (S.816/H.1260) calls for debt-free public higher education, increased student supports, increased recruitment and retention of high-quality faculty and staff, and green, healthy and safe campus facilities. MATSOL is part of the Higher Ed Coalition that is supporting these goals. The hearing for the Cherish Act takes place Monday Sep 18 before the Joint Committee on Higher Education at the State House. Visit the Higher Ed for All page for information and resources on how to attend the hearing to give testimony or submit written testimony.

MATSOL Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are member-led groups that are open to MATSOL members. The hold online meetings throughout the year. Volunteer SIG steering committees are meeting now to plan dates and topics for the upcoming year, so please look for a meeting schedule in September!

• Advocacy
• Community College ESL Faculty
• Educators of Color
• Emerging Scholars Circle
• ESL Unit Developers
• Instructional Coaches
• Low Incidence Programs
• Teacher Education

If you're interested in helping to organize an existing SIG, or start a new one, contact Jason at [email protected] for more information!

15 PDP courses

Earn 15 PDPs in English Learner Education for license recertification.

• EL-125 Welcoming and Supporting Newcomers
• EL-113 Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners with Special Needs
• EL-121 Maximizing Language Development for English Learners
• EL-114 Integrating Social Emotional Learning in English Learner Instruction
• EL-116 Leading for English Learner Equity and Achievement
• EL-123 English Language Development Standards in Action

SEI Endorsement Courses

The state-approved pathway to obtain the SEI endorsement.

• MA SEI Teacher Endorsement Course (RE-600)
• MA SEI Administrator Endorsement Course (RE-601)

MATSOL courses are also available for in-district delivery. Please contact MATSOL at [email protected] for details.

The EL Collaborations Project is recruiting teachers for their 2023-2024 Professional Learning Community (PLC) connecting History/Social Studies teachers with ESL/ELL teachers of English! Each free session will feature cross-disciplinary sharing and techniques in using primary sources in accessible ways to support multilingual learners. Meetings in October, November, December, January, March, and May. Offers PD hour documentation for participating teachers.

To find out more, fill out this interest form. Teachers are encouraged to respond in a timely fashion as participant spaces are limited and discussion materials will be provided in September in preparation for our first meeting in October.

MATSOL members receive free access to TESOL Connections, TESOL International Association's monthly online newsletter. The latest issue includes Translanguaging in ELT: Starting Points and Strategies; Try, Fail, Succeed, Repeat: Taking Risks in STEM; and Developing Workplace English Programs: 3 Considerations

There’s a lot going on in the world of TESOL and EL education, and we’d like all of it to be reflected in Currents! We welcome reviews of books and materials, reports on meetings and events, personal experience accounts, and articles on everything of interest to MATSOL members: adult education, PreK-12 education, bilingual and dual-language programs, ESL in higher education, educator-preparation programs, Intensive English Programs, and private language schools. 

Submission deadlines:

May 15 -- Spring/Summer Issue

October 15 -- Fall/Winter Issue