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?
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 New York (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).
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.
Bridges-NYSED programs include several instructional programs to accelerate learning for SIFE and newcomer learners as part of an MTSS plan. Please visit this link for an Overview of the Bridges-NYSED Programs offered to New York State educators.
All Bridges resources are designed for middle and high school secondary students, with some resources expanding to the 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.
Visit the Bridges website to learn more about the resources available to New York State educators and how to get involved in professional learning.
Please email info@bridges-sifeproject.com for more information.
Webinar: Needs Assessment--Readiness for Implementing the ELA Curriculum for SIFE with Developing Literacy
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. 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’s SIFE, listed here alphabetically: 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’ 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: Arabic, Bengali/Bangla, Burmese, Chinese-Simplified, Chinese Traditional, English, French, Fulani, Haitian-Creole, S’gaw 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.
Multilingual Literacy SIFE Screener (MLS) Portal
(note: you must refer to the Quick Start Guide and the Proctor Preparation Packet 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 New York State. The MLS is also a semi-adaptive online diagnostic that reflects current literature-based curricula and didactic principles from students’ 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’gaw 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 New York 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. For more information about the MLS, please visit our online Help Center.
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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. |
SIFE-MLS Resources:
Multilingual Literacy SIFE Screener (MLS) Help Center
Related Links/Additional Resources
Bridges to Academic Success: CUNY Graduate Center
Engaging English Language Learners with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education
How to Support ELL Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE)
Immigrant Students and Secondary School Reform: Compendium of Best Practices
EngageNY: Network Team Institute Materials: SIFE PD
New York City Department of Education: Students with Interrupted Formal Education
Serving Children With Little or No Previous Formal Schooling
What Challenges Do the CCSS and NGSS Pose for SIFE? McNamara, S., & Smith, A. (2015)
ESOL in Higher Ed SIFE Webinar (five videos)
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 New York 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’t 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 “learn America.”
For more information about how you can view the film and host a screening at your school, visit the I Learn America website