In Rebecca Freeman Field's article "Keeping Pace in Suburbia and Rural America", Field brings up some important points about how the landscape of ELL has been changing in America. She brings forth evidence of how school districts in particular suburban and rural areas of America do not provide enough programming for the diversity of students entering their schools. This is due to lack of professional development being offered for mainstream teachers to support the students that come into their classroom.
One particular thought that came into my mind when I was reading this article is that within my own board I can see disparities between schools in what is offered to ESL students. For example when I was on my first LTO at school A I found that the ESL program was very well developed. The students had specialized programs based on their ESL stage levels. However when I moved to my second LTO there was not the same amount of ESL programming being offered even though the needs of the students seemed to be the same. It is important to mention that the locations of these two schools was comparably different. One was in a rural area while the other was not.
The second school did not have teachers who felt comfortable supporting their ESL students and these teachers felt that there was not enough being done for their students. I remember then, that we started having conversations with the administration and we then were able to have a ESL consultant come into the school and provide us a half day PD session during classroom instruction time (occasional teachers were provided) to learn about ESL instruction within our board.
Of course, a half day PD session is no where near enough for teachers to get what they need. It simply was like the appetizer at a full-course buffet.
Questions for Discussion
1) As an administrator what should I consider when providing professional development opportunities to my changing and evolving staff?
2) As an administrator I find that some teachers "buy-into" supporting ESL students more than others. How can I encourage and inspire my staff to take on professional development opportunities on their own (e.g. taking an ESL AQ)?
