Alabama-Mississippi
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
AMTESOL has a new mailing address! AMTESOL PO Box 360122 Hoover, AL 35236
PCI Workshop E
Thursday, January 29, 2026
1:00 - 4:00pm
Flowood, Mississippi
Sheraton Flowood The Refuge Hotel & Conference Center
Finding the Right Tempo: Differentiating Instruction by Proficiency Level for EL/ML Growth
Just like great music depends on rhythm, timing, and harmony, effective instruction for English and Multilingual Learners requires teaching at the right tempo for every learner. Differentiation shouldn’t feel like guesswork—it should feel like a well-produced playlist that intentionally meets students where they are and moves them forward with purpose.
In this interactive three-hour session, educators will learn how to differentiate instruction based on language proficiency levels to accelerate EL/ML growth while maintaining rigorous, grade-level expectations. Grounded in the English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards, this session demonstrates how to intentionally align language development with core content instruction so students are simultaneously building academic language and content understanding.
Participants will explore how to layer scaffolds, adjust language demands, and design proficiency-aligned performance tasks that support both language development and content mastery. A key focus will be on the use of locally administered and locally scored performance tasks to monitor student performance across all four language domains—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—throughout the school year. Educators will examine how these tasks function as formative learning checks that provide timely insights to guide instructional adjustments.
Through hands-on modeling and guided practice, attendees will examine flexible grouping structures, practical scaffolding strategies, and task design moves that strengthen alignment between language development and academic rigor. Educators will also consider how to build a sustainable, repeatable approach to differentiation and progress monitoring as part of everyday instruction—not as an add-on.
Session Objectives:
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Participants will gain a clearer understanding of how to use ELP Standards to guide differentiation
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Participants will gain increased confidence in designing and interpreting proficiency-aligned learning tasks
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Participants will be able to identify and select practical strategies they can adapt to their own instructional contexts
Presenter
Jobi Lawrence, Ed.D.
Dr. Jobi Lawrence brings nearly 30 years of experience in education, excelling in program administration, evaluation, and implementation at both national and international levels. Currently, she serves as the Director of Product Development and Strategic Partnerships for
ELPA21 at UCLA CRESST.
Throughout her career, Dr. Lawrence has demonstrated leadership at the National Clearinghouse of English Language Acquisition (NCELA) and the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center. Before joining NCELA, she was the Director of Title III and an Education Program
Consultant for the Iowa Department of Education. Additionally, she held a tenured position as an Associate Professor of Education, where she chaired the Graduate Programs in Education and directed four National Professional Development Grant programs, including Project ASSETS, Project Power Up, Project Impact, and Project Teach.
Dr. Lawrence began her career as an ESL instructor for grades K-12 and contributed to the grant-writing committee for Muscatine Community Schools. She also taught ESL and developed a gifted program for bilingual students at Columbus Community Schools.
Her research and insights have been published in notable works such as Common Core and ELLs/Emergent Bilinguals: A Guide for All Educators, Language Magazine, NABE ENews, Distance Education: Bridging the Equity Gap, and the International Diversity in Organizations Journal. She has received numerous awards from institutions such as the University of Iowa, Baylor University, and the Iowa Culture and Language Conference. Dr. Lawrence holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Phoenix.
Outside of her professional pursuits, she enjoys spending time with her three sons and their mini Australian Shepherds.