School of Education grant to improve ESL education

Imagine sitting in a classroom, staring at a chalkboard jumbled with strange figures and symbols and listening to a teacher whose words do not make sense.

Imagine experiencing this confusion day in and day out, simply because English is not the primary language spoken at home. 

A $1.9 million federal grant awarded to the IU School of Education at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis will fund a project to combat this confusion by improving instructors’ ability to teach English as a second language.

“We’re trying to transform the mainstream classroom to have the optimal conditions that promote language learning and academic achievement,” said Annela Teemant, associate professor of education and the principal investigator for the project.

The project, called “IUPUI ESL Partnerships: Building Capacity Across and Within Institutions,” focuses on schools in the Indianapolis Public Schools system and the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township, according to a press release.

Teachers involved will participate in intensive ESL coaching.

They will also attend a five-day summer workshop to learn various techniques and new teaching methods to approach teaching English language learners in the classroom setting, Teemant said. 

“The only way to provide students with the best opportunity to learn is to have teachers who understand how to combine the best of language development practices with the best of content delivery,” she said.

Fifteen elementary teachers and 30 secondary math and science teachers will have the opportunity to add an ESL certification to their current teaching licenses through this grant, Teemant said.

The process takes 16 months, according to a press release.

Teemant said since there has been such an increase in the population of non-English speakers, having this certification can be very beneficial for the students.

“There isn’t a teacher in the school system today, especially new teachers who are entering, who will not be working with English language learners,” she said. “It’s the single largest population experiencing growth, especially in Indiana.”

Marilee Updike, ESL coordinator for IPS and a district partner on the grant, agreed, said the schools in the  Indianapolis area is no exception to the greater scope of the nation.

“Our numbers of children from other countries are doing nothing but going up,” she said. “The demographics of the nation are reflected here, so we have the same issues as everybody else.” 

Teemant said the new teaching styles positively influence all students, not only English language learners.

“The biggest change we see is that students are taking responsibility for their learning and their voice,” Teemant said. “Their thinking — their ideas — become part of the curriculum. Teachers are asking students to build on what they already know and apply it to important concepts that are in their textbooks.”

Updike said the project fosters a genuine understanding between teachers and students that will benefit the students overall.

“Any student is going to benefit from being taught by someone who understands how he learns,” Updike said.