S8/E9: An Inside Look into the 7 Steps to a Language Rich Classroom with Author John Seidlitz

Highest Aspirations

How does the teaching outlined in his book 7 Steps to a Language Rich classroom help bridge the gap between research and practice? What outcomes or impact has John and his team seen on student performance in classrooms where the 7 steps methodology has been implemented? What would John say to educators who may be interested in trying the 7 Steps but may have lingering questions about the potential loss of agency or the level of fidelity needed to effectively implement?

On this episode, we bring back our friend John Seidlitz to catch up on the work he has been doing for the newest version of his well known 7 Steps to a Language Rich Classroom book. It is always great to connect with John but the interview you’re about to hear is just one part of our exploration of this topic. You’ll find multimedia resources - including a transcript of this episode, accompanying blog posts, videos, collaboration opportunities, and more - on our learning community. For episode resources and additional content visit our EL Community page.

Find the full episode transcript here.

John Seidlitz is an independent educational consultant and the author of Sheltered Instruction Plus: A Guide for Texas Teachers of English Learners; Navigating the ELPS: Using the New Standards to Improve Instruction for English Learners; and a contributing author for The SIOP® Model for Teaching History-Social Studies for English Learners. He is the co-author of numerous publications including the 7 Steps to Developing a Language-Rich Interactive Classroom®. Mr. Seidlitz has been a member of the SIOP® National faculty and guest lecturer for many regional and national language development conferences. He taught social studies and ESL, served as a secondary ESL program coordinator, and held the position of education specialist at ESC Region 20 in San Antonio, Texas. In 2005, Mr. Seidlitz founded Seidlitz Education which is dedicated to the mission of Giving Kids the Gift of Academic Language™.