Dept. of Education grants IU $1.5 million

The IU School of Education has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.\nThe grant will form a partnership between the School of Education at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and three Indianapolis Public Schools to implement a five-year project to better prepare teachers of English Language Learners, said Annela Teemant, assistant professor of second/foreign language education at IUPUI. \n“The need for something like this is so intense,” said Beth Berghoff, associate professor of language education at IUPUI. “Our immigrant population is doubling every year and teachers are being faced with the challenge of teaching students who do not really understand English.” \nThe grant was written by the IU School of Education because there is a need for more teachers to be prepared to teach English language learners. This grant will prepare 20 faculty in two years and a total of 180 teachers in the span of five years to redesign their curriculums and teaching styles.\nBerghoff said the goal is to redesign the English language learner program at the University level. She said this involves bringing professors together and teaching them how to teach their students majoring in English language learners how to teach. \nThe grant works in four phases. The first phase takes 75 English language learner teachers and prepares them based on rigorous assessments and activities that aid in their understanding and development of curriculum materials, she said. \nIn the second phase, University faculty from the School of Science, Liberal Arts, and Education, along with 75 public school teachers from three demonstration school sites, participate in professional development such as workshops and job-embedded coaching, Teemant added. \n“The goal is for these students to learn English and be taught in ways that respect their native language and culture,” Teemant said. \nTeemant said the teachers will be taught how to teach in a way that supports these students and helps them learn. \nIn the last two phases, years three through five, 45 teachers from IPS will be recruited and provided tuition scholarships to complete University requirements for the English as a new language license. In addition, 60 secondary teachers will also receive tuition stipends for participating in intensive summer workshops. \n“(In) years three, four and five, teachers will take redesigned courses following the pedagogy method that works with English language learners,” Teemant said. \nThis grant will result in the redesign of five required undergraduate mathematics/science courses, eight elementary and secondary methods courses in the credential program, seven English as a new language courses and 75 exemplary clinical placement sites at three elementary and secondary schools. \nThese goals, objectives and activities ensure improved teacher performance, curriculum alignment and student achievement. \n“Our plan is complex enough to deliver a new kind of teaching and learning that will go across the University and out into public schools – so that it is deep enough to make a change,” Berghoff said.