Dialoging About English Learners: Preparing Teachers Through Culturally Relevant Literature Circles.

In this paper, I describe how culturally relevant children’s literature allowed teachers and teacher candidates to explore the lived realities of diverse students. Through my qualitative investigation of 23 literature discussions of undergraduate and graduate students across five academic semesters, I found that texts written by culturally and linguistically diverse authors gave participants new ways to articulate ideas and beliefs about English learners. I discovered specific factors that opened or closed opportunities for dialog and learning in literature circles, including implementation of reader response strategies and various participant groupings. Results hold implications for preparing and supporting teachers to recognize and value the rich diversity of English learners in classrooms

Negotiating Language Policy and Practice: Teachers of English Learners in an Arizona Study Group

Arizona language policy now requires English learners to enroll in English language development classrooms for four hours of skill-based, English-only instruction. In this article, I describe Arizona teachers’ interpretation and negotiation of language policy and practice during this time of change to more restrictive mandates. I conducted this qualitative case study with a teacher study group comprised of six English language development teachers and one instructional coach from an urban elementary school during the first semester of language policy implementation. Using discourse analysis of individual interviews, study group dialog, and institutional documentation, I investigated teachers’ talk as they grappled with restrictive policy mandates and effective classroom practice. Findings indicated teachers negotiated the cultural models inherent in the institutional policy in the study group setting. In the contemporary context of restrictive educational policies, implications for stakeholders center on professional and collaborative support for educators

Teach For America and English Language Learners: Shortcomings of the Organization’s Training Model

Teach For America (TFA) places novice teachers, referred to as corps members, in several regions across the United States that have among the highest English language learner (ELL) populations in the nation. In this paper, we present a policy and program analysis of TFA’s training related to ELLs, arguing that the organization inadequately prepares teachers to work with this student population even though it places corps members in regions with high ELL populations. First, we describe the current Elementary and Secondary Education Act amendment that allows TFA corps members to be considered highly qualified without ELL-related training. Next, we analyze TFA’s curriculum and teacher preparation approach specific to ELLs. We then describe alternative approaches, including an emerging residency model and a community-based program, which prepare teachers for specific local contexts and student populations. Drawing on these exemplars, we conclude with recommendations for TFA to modify its model in ways that would sufficiently prepare its corps to teach ELLs

Situating Practice in Schools and Communities: Case Studies of Teacher Candidates in Diverse Clinical Experiences with English Language Learners

With climbing percentages of linguistic diversity within the United States population, teachers must be prepared to work with English language learners in school and community settings. In this paper, we utilized a multiple-case study design to describe and explore the learning of four undergraduate teacher candidates enrolled in a university course on the assessment of English language learners. Working to fulfill the course and clinical requirements for the English as a Second Language endorsement, candidates engaged in fieldwork and conducted authentic language assessments to glean the unique sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds, abilities, and needs of students to inform subsequent instruction. Findings indicated that candidates benefited from diverse school and community field placements that matched their programs of study and cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Additionally, findings demonstrated the affordances of community sites where candidates had authentic and low-stakes opportunities to engage in professional practice, juxtaposed with high-stakes classroom settings where cooperating teachers often limited candidate involvement due to the focus on standardized testing. We close with implications and recommendations for field-based teacher preparation for English language learners

Integrating Graduate Coursework to Prepare Alternatively Certified Teachers

In this article, we describe our innovative work as teacher educators to integrate coursework for alternatively certified teachers. Rather than maintain boundaries among individual courses for new elementary teachers, explicit connections support first-year teachers\u27 professional learning and aid in the immediate application to classroom practice. Ccurse integration included backward planning with shared goals, the combination of key topics and content, and the inccrporation of common assignments and related classroom tasks. The innovation reflects the function of collaboration in higher education, where teacher educators work together to improve the professional learning and performance cf classroom teachers

Are Teach For America Corps Members Highly Qualified to Teach English Learners?: An Analysis of Teacher Preparation for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations

Teach For America (TFA) places novice teachers, referred to as corps members, in several regions across the United States that have among the highest English learner populations in the nation. In light of this fact, we offer an examination of federal policy and recommend programmatic strategies to better prepare TFA corps members to serve English learners. First, we describe the current Elementary and Secondary Education Act amendment that allows TFA corps members to be considered highly qualified without adequate training to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students. Next, we analyze the organizational curriculum and teacher preparation approach specific to English learners. We then compare TFA’s approach to those used in emerging residency models and community-based programs that prepare teachers for specific local contexts and student populations. We conclude with recommendations for TFA to improve its teaching corps for English learners and other culturally and linguistically diverse students

Teacher Candidates and Latina/o English Learners at Fenton Elementary School: The Role of Early Clinical Experiences in Urban Teacher Education

This study investigates how early clinical experiences impact teacher candidates’ learning and experiences with Latina/o English learners in a field-based program housed in a multilingual, urban elementary school. We draw on multiple-case study design and use discourse analysis to explore cases of three candidates. Findings reveal exploration of additive language policies, use of cultural tools in academic contexts, and linguistic validity in assessments

Teacher Preparation and Language Policy Appropriation: A Qualitative Investigation of Teach for America Teacher in Arizona

In this qualitative study, we examined teachers’ language policy appropriation in the English-only state of Arizona. Specifically, we investigated teachers who received their professional placement and preparation through the Teach For America organization. We conducted the research in 2010 and 2011, a period when Arizona state language policy required that English learners be placed in English language development classrooms, separated from mainstream classrooms, to receive four hours of daily skill-based language instruction in language-specific content only, including grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, and conversation. Through analysis of interview data from seven current corps members and eight alumni teachers, we investigated whether and how professional preparation shaped teachers’ identity and agency to implement prescriptive linguistic and instructional mandates in the classroom

Bilingual Education in English-Only: A Qualitative Case Study of Language Policy in Practice at Lincoln Elementary School

In this qualitative case study, we investigate teachers’ appropriation of language policy at one urban elementary school in Illinois. Recognizing classroom teachers’ central role in the education of English learners, we probe teachers’ policy appropriation, or how bilingual educators take state-, district-, and school-level policies and corresponding programmatic requirements and utilize them in their own ways in classrooms in the midst of heightened accountability, including the shift to the Common Core Standards and other policy changes. Using ethnographic methods including participant observation, field notes, surveys, and interviews, we study the case of Abraham Lincoln School, which serves predominantly Latino students through both transitional and maintenance bilingual program models. Findings indicate the impacts of external demands on bilingual teachers’ policy appropriation, as accountability to English-only tests shaped decisions in classroom practice. Results demonstrate that bilingual education is not consistently occurring in Lincoln classrooms, due to lack of clear expectations, multiple initiatives that take away from needed classroom instructional time, high-stakes and standardized tests given only in English, and varying challenges of students’ Spanish proficiency due to the rush to mainstream. The significance of findings center on teachers’ integral roles as policy makers in bilingual education, as they engage in daily decision making that directly impacts the education of English learners in Midwestern schools