BEACONS
Comprehensive Literacy and Biliteracy Professional Learning Program
One expert provider. One aligned approach.
Every classroom, language, and learner.
Program Introduction
CABE’s BEACONS is a comprehensive Literacy and Biliteracy Professional Learning Program designed to strengthen instruction for ALL students across general education classrooms, Structured English Immersion and ELD settings, and English-Spanish dual language programs. The program aligns to the ELA/ELD Framework, the EL Roadmap, and the California Literacy Roadmap, Dyslexia Guidelines, and MTSS guidance.
Every student needs academic language to read deeply, build knowledge, communicate complex ideas, think critically, and act with agency as a literate being. However, academic language does not develop automatically through exposure alone. Its specialized vocabulary, syntax, grammar, and forms of discourse must be explicitly and intentionally taught across listening, speaking, reading, and writing. At the same time, it strategically embeds Integrated and Designated ELD so that support for multilingual learners is not treated as an add-on, separate initiative, or afterthought. It is an intentional and essential part of high-quality literacy instruction.
Included in the California State Board of Education’s approved literacy professional development list as one of the top-ranked programs, this professional learning brings literacy, academic language, English language development, biliteracy (when applicable), professional learning, coaching, leadership development, and family engagement into one coherent system.
Request a BEACONS Consultation: https://gocabe.org/lead/#contact
CABE is your district’s one-stop provider for aligned English literacy, ELD, and biliteracy professional learning!
Accredited Quality. Trusted Expertise.
As the first organization of its kind to earn ACS WASC accreditation as a Supplementary Education Program, CABE has achieved independent recognition for the quality and rigor of its educational programs. Together with more than 50 years of instructional leadership and the expertise of CABE’s LEAD Department, it affirms that districts can expect high-quality, research-aligned professional learning designed to produce meaningful and lasting impact.
Program Description
Flexible Delivery Across One or Multiple Academic Years
BEACONS is organized into interconnected professional learning modules that districts may complete within one academic year or sequence across multiple academic years. This flexibility allows districts to align implementation with local priorities, instructional calendars, available funding, educator readiness, and the level of support needed for sustained change.
CABE collaborates with each district to develop a coherent learning sequence so that modules build upon one another rather than becoming isolated professional development events. Delivery may be in person, virtual or hybrid, and may include classroom application, coaching, collaborative planning, instructional rounds, and leadership support between modules.
District Participation and Delivery Options
One-Year/Multi-year Core Cohort
Eight full days
District teams complete the full instructional and MTSS sequence during one or 2 academic years. Classroom implementation, student-evidence analysis, collaborative reflection, and application tasks occur between sessions with optional ongoing coaching and trainer of trainer sustainability pathway.
Multi-Year Cohort
Eight core days distributed across one or more academic years
Districts may sequence the modules across multiple years to provide additional time for classroom application, coaching, reflection, and schoolwide implementation. CABE works with district leaders to determine a logical progression that maintains program coherence.
A multi-year sequence might include:
- Year 1: Multilingual Learner Shadowing, Shared literacy vision, the 6E model, foundational skills, and academic language and ELD
- Year 2: Diagnostic systems, MTSS, writing, and biliteracy coherence
- Year 3: Job-embedded coaching, instructional rounds, leadership development, and Trainer of Trainers preparation
The sequence can be adjusted based on district priorities and existing instructional initiatives.
Customized Module Pathway
Selected modules delivered within or across academic years
Districts may select specific BEACONS modules that respond to identified needs, such as foundational skills, academic language, ELD, biliteracy, Multilingual Learner Shadowing, MTSS, writing analysis, or the 6E instructional model.
CABE helps districts connect selected modules to a broader implementation plan, ensuring that each module contributes to an aligned approach to literacy and biliteracy instruction.
Comprehensive Cohort With Coaching
Ten or more days within one or multiple academic years
Includes the complete eight-day learning sequence plus customized coaching, lesson modeling, co-teaching, collaborative planning, or instructional rounds. Coaching days may be embedded throughout the cohort or added during subsequent years to deepen implementation.
Virtual BEACONS Institutes
Modules or the complete sequence delivered virtually
Educators may participate in CABE’s scheduled virtual institutes, or districts may request customized virtual or hybrid delivery. Virtual institutes include live instruction, demonstrations, collaborative planning, student-work analysis, classroom application, and reflection.
Trainer of Trainers Sustainability Pathway
Available after partner districts complete the core BEACONS preparation
Trained partner districts may select a Trainer of Trainers pathway to prepare internal facilitators who can sustain implementation after grant funding or initial contracted services conclude.
The pathway develops local capacity to facilitate BEACONS professional learning, support collaborative planning, guide evidence-based inquiry cycles, coach implementation, and maintain alignment across general education, ELD/SEI, and dual language programs.
Whether completed within one year or sequenced across multiple academic years, BEACONS provides districts with one coherent professional learning system and the flexibility to build lasting educator expertise at a sustainable pace.
Program Components
The BEACONS Professional Learning Experience
BEACONS is a sustained, professional learning experience that moves educators from shared understanding to classroom implementation, analysis of student evidence, and continuous instructional improvement.
The Core Cohort includes eight full days of professional learning, with classroom application and reflection between sessions. Districts seeking deeper implementation support may select a Comprehensive Cohort of 10 or more days, including job-embedded coaching, lesson modeling, collaborative planning, or instructional rounds.
CABE can deliver BEACONS through an annual cohort beginning in the fall and culminating in the summer or customize the schedule, delivery format, and level of support for an individual district.
Strategic Systemic Approach
One Investment That Builds Systemwide Expertise
BEACONS gives districts one aligned professional learning approach across general education, ELD/SEI, and English–Spanish dual language programs. All five ELA/ELD Framework themes remain embedded throughout the learning sequence, including the strategic, explicit teaching of foundational skills as the basis for meaning making, critical thinking, reading, writing, academic language, and effective expression.
Rather than introducing another disconnected curriculum, BEACONS develops educators’ capacity to use current resources more intentionally. Districts build shared instructional language, strengthen classroom practice, align support across programs, and develop the internal expertise needed to sustain comprehensive literacy and biliteracy improvement.
Contact us today and start your journey towards high-quality literacy and biliteracy success!
