Join Dr. Zinnia Un, Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Multilingual Services for Tigard-Tualatin School District, and guests, for an engaging pre-conference session designed to support school and district leaders in strengthening services for Multilingual Learners of English (MLEs). Building from last year’s focus on creating the conditions for linguistic equity, this session shares a humble look at a district’s ongoing work to improve systems—grounded in the belief that real change happens through shared responsibility, reflection, and learning together over time.
Using the Castañeda 3-prong framework as a simple planning guide, participants will explore:

• how programs for MLEs are designed,
• how well they are carried out across schools, and
• how we know whether they are working for students.

Participants will use a Systems Health Check for Linguistic Equity to assess strengths and gaps, create a clear plan and shared vision, and learn how districts can improve over time through ongoing check-ins—such as site visits, feedback cycles, and calibration meetings where leaders and teams learn from what is happening in real classrooms and make adjustments together.

Dr. Un’s work centers students furthest from justice and focuses on building clear systems through community input, policy alignment, and practical tools. Her leadership approach emphasizes cultural humility and humanizing practices that support belonging, access, and strong learning outcomes for MLEs.

Session Objectives:
By the end of this session, leaders will be able to:

• Use a Systems Health Check to better understand how well their MLE systems are working
• Create a clear plan (a “roadmap”) for improving linguistic equity
• Learn practical tools, training ideas, and legal guidance to support MLE students’ civil rights
• Understand how today’s social and political climate impacts MLE students and staff
• Connect leadership decisions to stronger classroom experiences and outcomes for MLEs

This session will provide leaders with practical strategies, tools, and examples to support continuous improvement and better experiences for Multilingual Learners.

Speaker:

• Zinnia Un, Director of Equity and Inclusion, Tigard-Tualatin SD