School of Education secures $1.4 million grant
Federal grant will enhance ESL instruction
A five-year, $1.4 million federal grant to the School of Education will enhance English as a Second Language instruction across the state. The U.S. Department of Education grant provides training in working with the growing number of ESL students in North Carolina’s schools to UNCG faculty, undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (CUI), and teachers in the Chatham County and Asheboro City schools. The project, TESOL for ALL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages=Academic Achievement for Language Learners), addresses the achievement gap between ESL students and traditional students. Dr. Barbara Levin, one of the principal investigators for the project, said teachers are often not prepared for the added challenge of teaching ESL students, and licensed ESL teachers are in high demand. TESOL is a coordinated effort among faculty in the UNCG elementary teacher education program, Chatham County Schools, Asheboro City Schools, the Center for New North Carolinians and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Dr. Kathryn Prater, Dr. Ye He and Dr. Ann Harrington, all from the CUI department, worked with Levin as investigators on the grant, which will distribute $228,000 during the 2007-08 school year. The TESOL grant will add a new MEd program called the Classroom Practice Track program that will lead to initial licensure for teaching K-12 ESL students. This new program is designed to attract second degree, career changing adults into ESL teaching at the graduate level. The leaders of TESOL expect to provide comprehensive professional development experiences for up to 30-45 teachers annually, ultimately serving more than 1,300 ESL students at the end of the five-year grant period.