ESOL 2003 Activities Report
This project provides the three ESOL endorsement courses on-site to teachers and school staff in three counties, in order to increase the number of K-12 personnel qualified to teach English as a Second Language. This is the beginning of the second year of this program, with cohorts in Cobb Co., Hall Co., and Fulton Co. Each of the three courses is a 5-SDU class including a substantial field experience, and in each case we are catering the schedule of the classes to best meet the needs of the participating teachers. (For instance, in Fulton Co., the principals are providing limited teacher release days for participants to allow part of the coursework to be done during rather than after the school day; some components of the courses are being taught on-line; and the courses should be complete by the beginning of the summer rather than extending through teachers' time off.)
The first course of the series began in August. The Cobb Co. cohort meets at Campbell High School and is completing the "cultural issues in the classroom" course. The Fulton Co. cohort meets at Riverwood High School and is completing the "P-12 ESOL methods" course. The Hall Co. cohort meets at Johnson High School and is also completing the "P-12 ESOL methods" course. For this year, we are providing a strong focus on including mainstream, content-area teachers in the ESOL endorsement program. Additionally, we encouraged the cooperating districts to focus on recruiting high school and middle school participants for the endorsement, as historically more teachers at the elementary level have participated. There is a great need for secondary teachers—especially content teachers—to know how to meet the needs of English language learners in their classes.
Accomplished Objectives
We are on target in accomplishing our objectives of increasing the number of teachers trained in ESOL. The primary challenge we are facing is teacher attrition; more teachers than expected dropped out of the cohorts for Hall and Fulton Counties. These teachers may have had unrealistic expectations of the class workload prior to beginning; for current recruitment we are urging the county administrators to make clear that these courses carry a substantial time commitment and reading load.
One district administrator has stated:
Planned Activities
During the next three months, the current courses will be completed and evaluated. Participants who successfully completed the first course will obtain an SDU certificate. Instructors for the second of the three-course series will be recruited, the districts will recruit additional participants for the second course, and these courses will be taught beginning in early January (2 cohorts) or late November (1 cohort).
Number of Individuals Receiving Training and Areas of Training
Cobb Co. has 24 participants who are expected to successfully complete the first course of the sequence, which addresses cultural diversity, cultural and cross-cultural expectations and communication, and how to effectively teach students of diverse language and cultural backgrounds. Fulton Co. has 11 and Hall Co. has 12 expected to complete the first course offered in their districts; this course focuses on the methods, strategies, materials, and activities for teaching English language learners. Administrators in Fulton and Hall Cos. are recruiting additional participants for the two other courses in the sequence. We are expecting to have 25 teachers complete each of the next two courses in the series in each of the three cohorts. Additionally, the Fulton cohort participants attended our Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE) Fall Renewal Workshop, in which they learned what schools around the state are doing to increase achievement and involvement of Latino students and families, learned about the Mexican educational system, and networked with peers.
New Programs
Participants in the Fulton Co. and Hall Co. methods courses have modified their lessons and curricula to reflect appropriate strategies and activities for teaching English language learners. What is new is the degree to which this is a focus and requirement of these courses. All courses, especially the "Methods" courses are focused on designing and delivering "sheltered instruction" at all grade levels, with an emphasis at middle and high school. Our goal is to have teachers at these grade levels receive the endorsement, so that they can then teach their content courses (science, math, literature, social studies etc.) in a "sheltered" or highly contextualized manner, thus allowing English Learners to keep up with their schooling and academic credits, while continuing to improve their English. If schools wait until ELLs are proficient in English to teach them grade level content, students often fail, drop out or run out of time. We feel the sheltered instruction training is a very positive and important contribution, which this grant has allowed us to make. We believe this kind of training, if continued across the state, especially in districts with large numbers of English Learners, like those we are working with, will have a significant impact on the number of Latino and other language minority students who will complete high school and be eligible and prepared for higher education.
Partnership Activities
At UGA, two CLASE faculty members and one graduate student are involved this year with the administration and teaching of this project.
Linkages with Other Institutions
Participants in the Fulton Co. cohort participated in the CLASE Fall Renewal Conference, during which they learned about the Latin American Association in Atlanta and its programs. Participants in all cohorts are linked with CLASE and learn about additional outreach and professional development opportunities.
Number of Individuals and/or Organizations Benefiting from Project
47 teachers are expected to complete the present ESOL endorsement course. These teachers represent three school systems and over ten schools (6 from Hall Co., 3 from Fulton, and 15 from Cobb). These teachers instruct hundreds of English Learners, who we believe benefit each day from the training their teachers are receiving."I want you all to know how much CLASE's efforts have contributed to Hall County's plan to meet the needs of ELLs [English Language Learners]. I am hearing from principals and teachers very positive comments about the results. Teachers and administrators are getting excited! There are changes in attitudes. ELLs are not just viewed as an overwhelming obstacle. In this day of NCLB, that is quite an accomplishment. Our greatest need in the district is to provide training for mainstream teachers in how to accommodate for ELLs. The problem has been that teachers and often administrators don't even recognize this need in the same way that some of us in this field do. Both of the collaborative efforts that we have with CLASE have provided invaluable help for our district in meeting the need for the mainstream teacher. At the same time you have been providing us with this support, we have been working to restructure ESOL teams at the school levels to (1) monitor students exited from ESOL, (2) recommend accommodation for mainstream teachers, and (3) communicate more on ELL issues. I wanted you to be aware of how the work CLASE is doing meshes with other efforts in our district, but most of all, to let you know of the very positive impact you are making."