Grant creates ESL program to train new educators

A new program at the IU School of Education will improve training for teachers of English as a Second Language.

The ESL Professional Communities for Expertise and Leadership Development received $154,000 from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. This grant will prepare minority ESL teachers through on-site workshops, graduate courses, summer institutes and a capstone project in South Bend and East Chicago, Ind. school corporations.

The program focuses on 11 teachers in each corporation for two years. The teachers can build on each other’s experiences and have support from their peers. The program is also designed to continue after the initial two years.

The East Chicago schools will continue to develop their ESL classes, while the South Bend schools will introduce teaching ESL.

The project is led by associate professor Faridah Pawan and assistant professor Beth Samuelson. They will be assisted by Michelle Greene, an ESL teacher and a doctoral student in the IU School of Education, as well as associate professor, Joan Pong Linton, who will be a consultant on the project.

In addition, an almost $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education is funding a partnership between the School of Education at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and Indianapolis Public Schools to prepare ESL teachers as well as develop skills of current teachers and IU faculty.

The need for ESL teachers is one of the top priorities of the Indiana Department of Education, who included it in their just-submitted federal application for “Race to the Top” funds.

The number of limited English proficient students has quadrupled in Indiana during the last decade, and South Bend and East Chicago have the highest amounts of these students.