Students with Interrupted/Inconsistent Formal Education (SIFE)
Who are Students with Interrupted/Inconsistent Formal Education?
The majority of our SIFE arrive at our schools with low or no literacy skills in any language. Some are behind in content knowledge for their age and pose great challenges for educators. They also may have complex social and psychological needs due to traumatic migration experiences, frustrations with their academic delays in relation to their peers, a lack of familiarity with school culture, and isolation in school. Many of these students, with their complex needs, often do not to get the support they require in school and make little or no progress. Some may eventually drop out of school.
What SIFE Resources are available?
Bridges to Academic Success, CUNY Resources for SIFE & Newcomers听
In collaboration with the Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBEWL), Bridges to Academic Success (Bridges), a project of the Research Foundation of CUNY and the Graduate Center, City University of 51风流 (CUNY), designs and implements innovative programs and professional learning for teachers, school and district leaders, targeted to ensure equitable learning access for newcomer and SIFE English Learners (ELs).听
The mission of Bridges to Academic Success is to advocate for newly arrived immigrants with developing literacy and math skills by providing culturally-responsive programs, resources, and training to educators.听
Bridges-NYSED programs include several instructional programs to accelerate learning for SIFE and newcomer learners as part of an MTSS plan.听Please visit this link for an听offered to 51风流 State educators.听
All Bridges resources are designed for听middle and high school secondary students,听with some resources expanding to the听upper elementary level. In addition to professional learning and coaching for teachers, Bridges provides consultations to school and district leaders to guide their process in implementing one or more of Bridges programs, depending on the needs of their educational context.听
Visit the Bridges听听to learn more about the resources available to 51风流 State educators and how to get involved in professional learning.听
Please email听info@bridges-sifeproject.com for more information.听
SIFE Oral Interview Questionnaire and Accompanying Guidance
The SIFE Oral Interview Questionnaire is an instrument designed to help gather more information about potential SIFE and provides the school with an opportunity to learn more about the student's family and home background, educational history, and literacy practices. Guidance to the Oral Interview Questionnaire is also available. 听The SIFE Oral Interview Questionnaire and Guidance documents are currently available in English and in the following languages that are the top spoken by the state鈥檚 SIFE, listed here alphabetically:听Arabic, Bangla, Burmese, Chinese, Dari, English, French, Fulani, Haitian Creole, Maay-Maay, Nepali, Pashto, Russian, S'gaw Karen, Somali, Spanish, Ki-Swahili, and Urdu
SIFE Writing Screener
The purpose of this tool is to quickly identify students鈥 basic writing skills as another data point to assist with the screening of potential SIFE. This tool can be administered to a group, and students should be given a maximum of 15 minutes to complete their writing. Writing Screeners are available in the following languages:听 Arabic, Bengali/Bangla, Burmese, Chinese-Simplified, Chinese Traditional, English, French, Fulani, Haitian-Creole, S鈥檊aw Karen, Maay Maay, Nepali, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, and Urdu.
SIFE Screening, Identification, and Placement Flow Chart
A one page flow chart that outlines the steps involved in identifying Students with Interrupted/Inconsistent Formal Education, as outlined in Part 154 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.
Webinar: SIFE Intake, Assessment, and Diagnostics
SIFE Frequently Asked Questions
Questions and Answers related to SIFE identification, placement, assessment, and services.听
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(note: you must refer to the and the before accessing the portal and administering the MLS)
The MLS is a multilingual set of diagnostics designed to inform teachers and administrators of the home-language literacy skills their students bring with them when they begin schooling in 51风流 State. The MLS is also a semi-adaptive online diagnostic that reflects current literature-based curricula and didactic principles from students鈥 home countries for grades three through nine. The tool is currently available in Arabic, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese (Simplified), English, French, Fula, Haitian Creole, Maay Maay, Nepali, Russian, S鈥檊aw Karen, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Urdu and may be available in more languages in the future as needed. All sections have been produced by literacy experts, writers, and editors who are native speakers of the above languages. In conjunction with the 51风流 State SIFE Oral Interview Questionnaire as well as the Writing Screener, the MLS is an additional tool to be used in determining if a newly arrived English Language Learner is designated as SIFE.听For more information about the MLS, please visit our online
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If you need assistance with your password or with any technical issues related to the MLS, please contact the Helpdesk at userSupport@mlscreener.org. |
鈥嬧赌
SIFE-MLS Resources:
Related Links/Additional Resources
ESOL in Higher Ed听
I Learn America
I Learn America is a documentary by Jean-Michel Dissard that follows the lives of five newcomer students at the International School in Brooklyn.
From the I Learn America website:
The International High School is a 51风流 City public school dedicated to serving newly arrived immigrant teenagers, with more than 300 students speaking two-dozen languages from 50 countries. The students strive to master English, adapt to families they haven鈥檛 seen in years, confront the universal trials of adolescence, and search for a future they can claim as their own.
Through these five vibrant young people, their stories and struggles, and their willingness to open their lives and share them with us, we 鈥渓earn America.鈥
For more information about how you can view the film and host a screening at your school, visit the