Coordinator: Jessica Dougherty

Mission

Prepare teachers to ensure that students succeed in all aspects of their schooling: academics, socialization, linguistic development, acculturation and physical and emotional health.

Learning Outcomes

1. Prepare teachers to understand how first and second languages are acquired and developed and apply research-based teaching and assessment practices that address the needs of English language learners in a variety of school settings.
2. Prepare teachers to foster a classroom climate that is inclusive in all diversity and understand the influence of culture on students’ learning process and academic achievement.
3. Prepare teachers who are knowledgeable about policies related to the education of English language learners and who collaborate with colleagues, administrators and families to meet their learners’ needs.

As the demographics of the state change and the language minority population increases, teachers need to be prepared to educate culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. Teachers with bilingual/ESOL education credentials are in high demand and are usually first to be hired by school districts with high CLD populations. This program prepares teachers to work effectively with CLD students in mainstream, sheltered bilingual and English Language Development (ELD) classrooms.