Preparing General Education Teachers to Support English Language Learners

Abstract

With ELL students being the fastest growing population in K-12 schools, the extensive need for preparing general education teachers to teach English Language Learners (ELLs) is trending across the nation. The issue is not the increase in ELLs, as teaching them should be celebrated and valued. Instead, the challenge lies in the unpreparedness of classroom teachers to teach ELLs. Research indicates that many teacher educators are unprepared to teach pre-service teachers about ELLs, which results in both to pre-service and in-service teachers being unprepared to teach ELLs in their classrooms. This issue has a significant impact on ELL academic outcomes. On-going, individualized, and collaborative professional development can improve the readiness of general education teachers to serve their ELL students. A professional development is designed specifically for general education teachers with ELLs in their classroom on TESOL in my school district. The goal of this professional development is to prepare classroom teachers to feel excited and more confident in their abilities to teach and work with ELLs, thereby helping our ELL students reach their full potential. Further recommendations include offering additional training sessions throughout the school year, conducting book studies, and embedding second language acquisition components into other content area trainings offered in our district.