By Michelle Hines, University Relations
(336) 334-5371
Posted 9-18-07
GREENSBORO, NC-- 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, 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.North Carolina had over 90,000 ESL students in schools across the state as of October 2006.
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. “There are not enough licensed ESL teachers out there, so we want to prepare as many of our teacher educators and teacher candidates at UNCG, and experienced teachers in our partner school districts, to meet the needs of their ESL students. Teachers have done a fine job so far. They have bent over backwards to try to meet those needs.”
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.
Dr. He said partnering with Chatham County and Asheboro City – two school systems that already have large populations of ESL students – is a win-win situation for UNCG and the schools. “There’s a real emphasis on collaboration. Hopefully our faculty members can learn also from these teachers’ experiences.”
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 over 1,300 ESL students at the end of the five-year grant period.
Dr. He said even teachers fluent in a foreign language still face other barriers – such as cultural differences, difficulties in interpreting assessment scores and unique legal issues. “When more than 50 percent of students in the classroom are ESL students, if the teacher doesn’t know anything about ESL, it’s going to be really difficult.”
For more information about TESOL, contact Dr. Barbara Levin at bblevin@uncg.edu.
