WE ASK:
GATESOL, GALEO, GALAS, and LCF Georgia join together to urge Georgia’s colleges and universities to include core TESOL courses as a part of all teacher preparation programs. Adequately preparing
pre-service teachers to meet the needs of multilingual learners is critical.
WE BELIEVE:
- The likelihood that graduates accepting teaching jobs in Georgia will teach multilingual learners is Georgia enrollment in ESOL grew by 61 percent from FY 2011 to FY 2019.
- Georgia schools are stepping away from teaching content and language In fact, in WIDA’s 2020 ELD Standards Framework, the core principle that integrating language instruction with content instruction is emphasized, thus, making it imperative to have mainstream teachers ready to support EL learners.
- Many Georgia school districts are already functioning in this progressive zeitgeist of shared Teachers must be prepared for this reality.
- Every teacher is a language Author on education practice, Larry Ferlazzo states, “For English language learners to succeed academically, teachers must interweave the academic language of each discipline into their instruction.”
- InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards and Learning Progressions for Teachers 1.0 demand that teachers address “cultural and linguistic diversity and the specific needs of students for whom English is a new ” Hence, TESOL courses in teacher education programs need to include a focus on linguistic diversity, content and language integration and culturally sustaining approaches to multilingual education.
WE ACKNOWLEDGE:
- Georgia’s educational history tells a story of students from a variety of backgrounds facing In October of 2020 three federal cases were under investigation for discrimination of multilingual learners in Georgia. Stephen Owens airms, “Any argument that ELs are not receiving the resources they need to have equal opportunities would be backed up by history, current litigation and student test scores.”
- States such as Massachusetts have already put in place guidelines to address the gap in academic proficiency for multilingual Core academic teachers of multilingual learners, principals, assistant principals, supervisors, and directors who evaluate those teachers must all obtain training and licensure requirements for the Sheltered English Immersion Endorsement.
