Brigham Young University’s ESL Endorsement through Distance Education program, housed in the David O. McKay School of Education, recently was awarded five years of research funding totaling almost $1.5 million from the Office of English Language Acquisition of the U.S. Department of Education.
The funding will provide English as a Second Language Endorsements for 225 classroom teachers and systematic ongoing support through coaching, mentoring and teacher work groups for 225 more teachers who have previously completed the ESL endorsement.
To date, hundreds of local teachers have earned an ESL endorsement through this program. Additionally, many teacher candidates have graduated from BYU with an ESL teaching minor that qualifies them to work with English language learners in America’s public schools.
BYU’s ESL Endorsement was first developed by the McKay School of Education in 1998 to help local school districts meet federal standards for ESL-qualified schoolteachers.
Research initiatives connected to the program have received two previous federal awards.
The two-year, 16-credit program is a series of six video-anchored courses coupled with a practicum of ongoing and integrated fieldwork. Using research-based knowledge and practices for ESL students, the ESL Endorsement program offers foundations, second language acquisition, assessment, second language literacy, content-based instruction, family-school-community support and practicum courses.
For more information, contact Shauna Valentine at 801-422-8562.
