The purpose of the CLIMBS Facilitator Institute is to prepare and certify educators to teach the WIDA CLIMBS professional development course. After successful completion of the training, the educators will be certified to teach CLIMBS for a period of two years in the school, district, or state that has sponsored them. The CLIMBS course must be taught by a pair of certified instructors. Please visit the CLIMBS Facilitator Institute page for more information.

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Content and Language Integration as a Means of Bridging Success (CLIMBS)®, is a course designed to assist educators in applying the WIDA English language proficiency (ELP) standards in their classroom instruction using a sheltered instruction approach.

Rhode Island CLIMBS® participants discuss a standards-based lesson that uses the language of science on April 5, 2007.

School teams of ESL and general education/subject-area teachers who teach English language learners in K-12 settings are invited to participate in this semester-long course, which includes face-to-face and online workshops. Teachers interact and apply in the classroom what they learn about integrating language and content standards to increase their students' English proficiency and academic success.

Language acquisition research, a sheltered instruction model, the WIDA ELP Standards, and state content standards are the foundational pieces of the course, along with two textbooks. Teachers use student data from the ACCESS for ELLs^® test and other assessments, ELP and content standards, and peer observation to drive instruction. School and district administrators are invited and encouraged to participate in the course kickoff; they are welcome throughout the course and will have online access to all materials.

Nancy Carnavale and Pat Morris consult the WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards during the R.I. CLIMBS® workshop.

The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), developer of the CLIMBS® course on behalf of the WIDA Consortium, is a national and international leader in the fields of bilingual education, English as a second language, and many other issues related to the education of linguistically and culturally diverse adults and children. Learn more about CAL at www.cal.org. For more information on the CLIMBS® course, please send an email to info@wida.us .

Download the CLIMBS® brochure