But the similarities don’t end there. Both women work for Fordham’s successful BETAC (Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center), Eva as the director and Lillian as a resource specialist. Both women worked early in their careers as bilingual and ESL teachers and both went on to become successful principals at Bronx schools: Eva at P.S. 75, and Lillian at P.S. 1, the Courtlandt School.

Last month the New York League of Puerto Rican Women, Inc. (NYLPRW) honored the two educators at its annual College Awards Gala Dinner in Marina Del Rey, Bronx for their career achievements and outstanding service to the community.

Fordham’s Bronx BETAC assists Bronx public schools in their efforts to improve language instruction to the borough’s minority students who are English learners. It is one of two centers operating under a five-year contract with the New York State Office of Bilingual Education /Office of Foreign Language Services. The other center is located in the Lower Hudson Valley, and both are administered by the GSE’s Center for Educational Partnerships (CEP), directed by Associate Dean Anita Batisti.

The CEP enjoys a reciprocal relationship with the city schools; it helps thousands of public school students and, in turn, the city helps Fordham’s master’s and doctoral students gain classroom experience and keep abreast of cutting-edge educational practices.

The NYLPRW dinner is held annually to raise scholarship funds for undergraduate Puerto Rican women, selected for their academic excellence and service to the community.

NEW YORK—The New York State Education Department has awarded Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education $4.5 million in contracts for two Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Centers (BETACs) to serve more than 51,300 students in grades K-12 in the Bronx and Lower Hudson Valley. The highly competitive awards each total $2.25 million over a five-year period.

BETACs were established by the New York State Education Department to assist districts and schools in developing high quality educational programs to help English Language Learners (ELL) or Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students meet New York state’s learning standards.

The Bronx center, on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus, will serve more than 36,000 LEP students (primarily Spanish speakers), at every K-12 school in the Bronx; 326 schools across six districts. The Lower Hudson Valley center, on the University’s Tarrytown campus, will serve more than 15,000 students at K-12 schools in Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam Counties. The majority of students to be served by the Lower Hudson Valley center are Spanish speakers, followed by Arabic speakers, attending 340 schools in 62 districts.

Both centers are expected to open on July 1, and will be part of the new Center for Educational Partnerships headed by Anita Batisti, Ph.D., associate dean, Graduate School of Education. Under the direction of Angela Carrasquillo, Ph.D., professor of graduate education, and a recognized authority in ELL education, the centers will provide technical assistance, information and professional development for educators and parents of ELL students. Each center will have a full-time director, two resource specialists and a variety of consultants to provide the instruction necessary to boost ELL student performance, especially in districts identified as needing improvement under New York state’s accountability system.