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Our Story

PAL² includes educators from across  California, working together to empower elementary educators with evidence-based literacy and biliteracy practices and to foster meaningful family engagement.

Statewide Partnership

Partnerships Advancing Literacy & Language (PAL²) is a statewide project led by the Placer County Office of Education, Santa Clara County Office of Education, and Tulare County Office of Education, in partnership with seven additional County Offices of Education. The initiative is designed to strengthen literacy and language for students in Transitional Kindergarten through Grade 5 through evidence-based, equity-centered literacy and biliteracy practices.

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Comprehensive Planning

PAL² is guided by California’s Comprehensive State Literacy Plan, the California ELA/ELD Framework, the California Literacy Roadmap, and the English Learner Roadmap.

 

PAL² supports districts and schools through sustained professional learning, coaching, leadership development, Local Literacy Plan implementation, family and community engagement, and continuous improvement processes informed by implementation and student outcome data.

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Focused on Student Success

PAL² is grounded in the belief that each student thrives in literacy and biliteracy when they experience joyful, culturally and linguistically affirming, and evidence-based instruction.

 

Instruction should be driven by strong, collaborative leadership and coherent implementation of teaching, learning, and assessment systems that respond to student needs and ensure equitable outcomes across all content areas.

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Prioritizing Students with the Greatest Needs

PAL² prioritizes support for multilingual learners, socio-economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and underserved student groups to ensure equitable access to high-quality literacy and language instruction, support, and learning environments.

Our Team

PAL² is composed of educators from 10 County Offices of Education, collaborating to build better literacy and biliteracy systems for California's elementary school students.  We represent nearly 279 school districts, 2,952 schools, and 1.7 million students, or 30% of the total enrollment in California.  Across our 10 counties, 58% of the students are either low-income, foster youth, or Multilingual Learners, slightly lower than the State's 63%.

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County Leads:
1. Humboldt: Danielle Witten
2. Shasta: Stephanie Byars
3. Placer (State Lead): Rebecca Canham
4. San Joaquin: Teka Sims
5. Contra Costa:  Julie Dooley
6. Santa Clara: Barb Flores & Melanie Meneses
7. Tulare: Samantha Tate
8. Santa Barbara: Noelle Barthel
9. Riverside: Ivy Ewell-Eldridge
10. San Diego: Maria McCord
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