The MRVED Title III Consortium
...who we are and what we do.
September 02, 2008
The Minnesota River Valley Education District (MRVED) works with eight member school districts in a collaborative way to assist them in providing services that they cannot effectively or efficiently accomplish on their own. With the Title III grant, MRVED also works with two additional school districts - Buffalo Lake-Hector and BOLD.
It is our belief that the most efficient and effective way of accomplishing the intent and purposes of the Title III program is to work together on one consortium plan. At the core of our work is the synergy that is produced through districts working together. Because of the relatively small amount of Title III funds available, the majority of these funds are being spent on consortium staff development activities.
There was very little ELL related professional development for ESL teachers prior to receiving Title III funding. The ESL teachers received periodic training at state meetings and occasional workshops. In most districts, mainstream teachers and paraprofessionals working with ELLs received no professional development related to the specific needs of ELLs. Many of the mainstream teachers and paraprofessionals did not even have a basic understanding of second language acquisition or teaching techniques that could be used to work more effectively with ELLs.
Professional development meetings for ESL instructors, paraprofessionals and workshops for other staff are the heart of our consortium activities. Newsletters, delivered to all staff on a quarterly basis, provide additional information to increase the effectiveness of all staff working with ELLs. Summer workshops provide more in-depth instruction for mainstream teachers.
The consortium purchases educational materials to supplement existing materials. These instructional materials are shared by all of the consortium districts. Because of our size of districts, there often is not adequate funding to purchase materials such as leveled and themed books or a nice variety of books written in Spanish. As a consortium we purchase books and rotate them among the districts. We have purchased a variety of books and materials for elementary students, as well as educational games and books for older students. The paraprofessional and teacher meetings serve as a natural time to “swap” materials. This allows all of the districts to have “fresh” materials for their students.
Family programs are held in many of the participating districts to familiarize and educate parents on the educational opportunities available to their child(ren). In addition, the Title III grant allows district staff working with ELLs time to coordinate their efforts to better serve each English Language Learner in their district.
