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Article
Beyond RETELL: Taking The Lead In Ongoing Professional Development
MATSOL Currents
(2013)
Abstract
Since 2011, when the Department of Justice found Massachusetts remiss in providing an equitable education for English Language Learners (ELLs), roughly 30,000 content area teachers and administrators have been chosen to receive professional development training in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI). For in-service teachers, this training comes in the form of the RETELL course that is being offered in most districts throughout the state, up until SY 2016. Pre-service teachers are being given a similar SEI endorsement course as part of their initial licensure programs. Data from the DESE website alone provides evidence for the enormity of this effort: of 31,595 teachers, only 2,045 had an English as a Second Language (ESL) license in 2012 while the enrollment of ELLs statewide has increased 70% since 2000 (2013). This ambitious and costly initiative is a great first step toward raising awareness about second language learning in the PreK-12 classroom and giving teachers the strategies they need to “make rigorous content accessible to ELLs” (Massachusetts DESE, 2013).
Disciplines
Publication Date
Fall 2013
Citation Information
Melanie C. González and C. Julie Whitlow. "Beyond RETELL: Taking The Lead In Ongoing Professional Development" MATSOL Currents Vol. 36 Iss. 2 (2013) p. 19 - 22 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/melanie-gonzalez/9/