Preparing General Education Teachers to Teach ELLs

Abstract

This capstone project aims to help general education teachers who work with ELLs in their mainstream classrooms. The ELL population is large in the Utica City School District. Research shows that general education teachers are not prepared to teach ELLs. This can be detrimental for the Utica City School District due to the size of the district and the number of ELLs in the district. There are possible solutions to increasing the preparedness of general education teachers in teaching ELLs, including mandating courses that focus on ELLs, giving preservice teachers time in the classroom to work with and observe ELLs, and offering more professional development classes to in-service general education teachers. A professional development program is offered to other districts that service ELLs.