
Project SEMBRAR:
Sustaining Equity through Mentorship for
Bilingual Teacher Recruitment and Retention
A five-year project to strengthen and expand Grow-Your-Own Teacher Pipelines for Dual Language Bilingual Educators in Northern New Mexico and New England.

Supported by a National Professional Development Grant from the Office of English Language Acquisition, Project SEMBRAR is led by a consortium consisting of Dual Language Education of New Mexico (DLeNM), and Multistate Association for Bilingual Education (MABE), with support from Educators for a Multilingual Multicultural America (EMMA)​​​
Information on Project SEMBRAR
Article:
Academic Success for Success in the DLBE Classroom: Project SEMBRAR Provides a Grow-Your-Own Bilingual Educator Pathway
NM - Overview & Organizing Meetings - 1.18.25


NE - Mentor Leaders Kick-Off
3.8.25


Project Team
Michael Rodríguez - Project Director - Dual Language Education of New Mexico - michael@dlenm.org
Phyllis Hardy - Project Coordinator (New England) - Multistate Association for Bilingual Ed - PhyllisHardy@mabene.org
Joan Lachance - Project Coordinator (New Mexico) - Educators for Multilingual Multicultural America - EMMAInfo@dlenm.org
Margaret "Meg" Burns - NDLC Faculty Coordinator - Multistate Association for Bilingual Ed - megburns@mabene.org
Marialuisa DiStefano - NDLC Faculty - University of Massachusetts, Amherst - marialuisadi@umass.edu
Laura Hamman-Ortiz - NDLC Faculty - University of Rhode Island - laura.hammanortiz@uri.edu
Elena Schmidt - NDLC Faculty - Southern Connecticut State University - schmitte1@southernct.edu
Seonsook Park - NDLC Faculty - New Mexico Highlands University - parks@nmhu.edu
Elisabeth Valenzuela - NDLC Faculty - New Mexico Highlands University - evalenz@nmhu.edu
Rachel McCormick - Project Evaluator - MC2 Education LLC - rachel@mc2educationllc.com
Cassandra Cartmill - MC2 Education LLC - cassandra@mc2educationllc.com
Paula Oxoby-Hayett - MC2 Education LLC - paula@mc2educationllc.com
Yvonne Williams - EMMA Advisory - Wisconsin Center for Education Products & Services - yvonne.williams@wceps.org
Project Measures (GPRA)
GPRA Measure 1: Project Specific Measures:
- 1A Teacher Recruitment - 50% of accepted SEMBRAR teacher-bilingual PST (Track 2) participants will be first generation college students and/or from low-income backgrounds
- 1B Targeted DLBE Professional Learning - 50% or more of Mentor Leaders, Pre-Service Teachers and Faculty indicate that they see potential and/or actual pedagogical
- 1C1 Teacher Collaboration and Retention - 75% of Mentor Leaders effectively organize and facilitate a planned Community of Practice during the school year
- 1C2 Teacher Collaboration and Retention -75% of responding teachers/pre-service teacher participants agree or strongly agree that the Community of Practice improved their practice in the select project year
- 1C3 Sustainability - 75% of districts will have a plan to support a Community of Practice beyond project year
GPRA Measure 2: The number of bilingual or multilingual pre-service program participants enrolled annually.
GPRA Measure 3: Under measure 2, the number of bilingual or multilingual participants who are making progress toward becoming State certified, licensed, or endorsed in EL instruction.
GPRA Measure 4: Under measure 2, the number of bilingual or multilingual participants who have become fully State certified, licensed, or endorsed annually.
Partnering School Districts (LEAs)
Connecticut
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New Haven Public Schools
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Stratford Public Schools
Rhode Island
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Providence Public Schools
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International Charter School
Massachusetts
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Boston Public Schools
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Worcester Public Schools
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Somerville Public Schools
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New Bedford Public Schools
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Lynn Public Schools
New Mexico
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Bernalillo PS
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Santa Fe PS
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West Las Vegas Schools
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Chama Valley Schools
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Las Vegas City Schools​
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Amherst Public Schools
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Holyoke Public Schools
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Springfield Public Schools
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Chicopee Public Schools ​