Why Districts Partner with SEAL for Lasting Instructional Transformation

When the new academic year begins in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), students and families will feel a shift in dual-language classrooms. Over the coming weeks, classes will fill with the sounds of children chanting, singing, and confidently using rich academic vocabulary in two languages. The changes are taking place district-wide, moving from independent efforts in single classrooms to a shared, collaborative, research-based approach across schools. But this kind of instructional transformation and alignment didn’t happen by chance. It is the direct result of Oakland’s partnership with SEAL’s two-year Dual Language Series.

Grounded in California’s English Learner Roadmap, the series offers hands-on, research-based professional learning for both teachers and leaders. Each session delivers actionable, evidence-driven strategies that strengthen daily instruction, foster deep collaboration, and build joyful, language-rich classrooms. For Oakland’s educators and administrators, this journey went far beyond simply learning new classroom strategies. It was about building a shared, sustainable practice that strengthens long-term capacity, proving that when districts partner with SEAL, educators receive the tools they need to create classrooms where multilingual learners truly thrive.

‍The Power of Schoolwide Alignment

In 2024, Oakland Unified launched their partnership with SEAL. Over two years, SEAL equipped OUSD bilingual school teams with comprehensive professional learning, coaching, and practical tools. This kind of support strengthened dual language instruction and built language-rich, joyful classrooms. Principal Raquel Jones at International Community Elementary School watched it happen firsthand. 

SEAL's focus on connecting knowledge across languages has brought new perspectives and possibilities to classrooms at International Community School, bringing teachers, students, and families closer together. Teachers now share more insights with each other and with families about how to transfer knowledge and reading skills between languages. Teachers also spend less time repeating content that students have already mastered in their home language.

"Teachers have less time loss because they don't need to reteach what students already learned in their other language. That has increased teachers' efficacy around what they're able to instruct and collaborate on," Jones said. "It really has anchored teacher collaboration in a very real, authentic way."

Those changes are now visible across International Community School. Anchor charts line classroom walls. Language chants and songs fill the hallways, and there’s visible joy on students’ faces. Teachers say they feel more aligned and empowered.

“I think it has pushed our teacher instruction to a new level. We’re just excited to see the alignment happening and the student engagement happening across the school,” Jones said.

At Greenleaf Elementary, Assistant Principal Kate Moseley has seen the transformation up close, too. She describes one teacher whose classroom looked completely different just a year ago. Students used to copy from the board while the teacher led everything. Now that same room is student-led. Kids are doing chants, using academic vocabulary in two languages, and engaging with texts that reflect their lives.

"I just checked her i-Ready data, and it is triple what it was last year," Moseley said. "This is a Spanish i-Ready test, and our Spanish language learners are on grade level. That speaks to the huge impact of SEAL."

For Moseley, the SEAL partnership is a welcome solution to the constant curriculum pendulum swings that frustrate teachers. 

"What's wonderful about SEAL is that it's just good teaching," she said. "It's not something that's going to change in a couple of years. It's rooted in research, and it changes teaching practices long term, in both student-facing and teacher-facing ways. Teachers have autonomy in the creation process."

Interested in Bringing This Work to Your District?

Connect with SEAL to learn more about our professional learning offerings, including:

• Integrated and Designated ELD Instruction — helps educators bring California’s ELA/ELD Framework to life through intentional, responsive English Language Development (ELD)
• One-Day Literacy Support — highly interactive professional learning offering practical, ready-to-use strategies that strengthen literacy instruction and accelerate success for English Learners and multilingual students.
• Bilingual Teacher Pathways — free, state-funded program to help recruit, prepare and retain bilingual educators.

The Shift from Strategy to Daily Practice

This kind of schoolwide transformation is possible because SEAL helps teachers feel grounded and supported as they move from learning a new strategy to making it part of their daily practice. The move from theory to real-world classroom execution is built on continuous coaching support. But getting there requires a willingness to step into the unknown.

Jessamine Entrekin, a dual language teacher at Esperanza Elementary School, remembers some initial hesitation when the Dual Language Series was first introduced. Like many educators, she wondered if this was just another thing to adapt to.

One of Entrekin’s biggest concerns was letting go of the familiar. Opening a textbook and having everything ready felt safe. Being asked to try something new and then fine-tune it in real time felt like a lot. Things changed once she and her colleagues started implementing SEAL strategies with coaching support to practice those strategies. SEAL’s oral language assessment tool also helped Entrekin see what her students already knew, fundamentally changing her daily instruction.

"I was operating on the assumption that they needed to learn everything fresh from the start," Entrekin said. "This gave me an opportunity to think about what they already know and how to take that to the next level. It can feel scary in the moment, but it also feels like we're being more intentional with what we're doing. I think there's empowerment within that to say, ‘I'm really making this curriculum work for my students and for me.’”

Another added benefit? Once teachers are more invested in SEAL strategies, classrooms move from isolated efforts to schoolwide alignment. 

"Every single classroom is putting student work up on the walls," Entrekin said. "It’s not like one teacher does it all on their own, but we're all unified in highlighting how brilliant and amazing our students are."

One thing is clear, the kind of deep alignment Oakland Unified School District is now experiencing requires school leaders to step into the work alongside their staff. 

"We're in the trenches with teachers so they don't feel like it's just something else being pushed onto them. We're a part of it too," Moseley said.

Ultimately, Oakland is just one great example of many districts across California proving that when leaders and educators are supported through SEAL’s Dual Language Series, they do more than learn new strategies. They build shared instructional practices, strengthen collaboration across classrooms, and create more intentional, joyful learning environments where multilingual learners can thrive.

SEAL is proud to partner with educators and leaders to expand what’s possible in dual language education. See what our Dual Language Series can do for your district at seal.org.