VCU awards $1.2 million grant to help local teachers

Virginia Commonwealth University has received a federal grant to train content-area teachers to effectively teach English language learners attending county middle and high schools.

The five-year, $1.2 million national professional development grant from the U.S. Department of Education will help provide training programs that will increase English language learners' academic achievements.

With more than 58,000 students, Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) is the fourth-largest school system in Virginia and one of the 100 largest school systems in the country. The number of English language learning students in the county has grown from 400 in 1998 to 2,200 - an increase of more than 500 percent. These students are predominantly from Spanish-speaking countries, such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Colombia, but also come from Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea or Arab-speaking countries.

Virginia requires all English language learners, after their first year, to take state Standards of Learning tests. Although they are meeting state benchmarks in reading and math, pass rates for English language learners in Chesterfield are lower than the county's overall pass rates. Last school year, 83 percent of all students and 76 percent of English language learning students passed their math SOL test; 90 percent of all students and 75 percent of English language learners passed their language arts SOL test; and 91 percent of all students and 77 percent of English language learners passed their science SOL test.

"Closing the achievement gaps for English language learning students is vital," said Terry Franson, CCPS' English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) instructional specialist. "This grant program will make a great difference in the lives of students who come to us in middle and high school with limited English skills. Working together, content-area teachers and ESOL teachers will help students achieve academic success."

"It seems insurmountable for English language learners to meet the grade-level standards in such a short period of time, particularly without special assistance from appropriately trained content-area teachers," said grant director Seonhee Cho, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the VCU School of Education who specializes in ESOL education. "What is more challenging for secondary English language learners is the depth and breadth of content knowledge, and disciplinespecific and cognitively-demanding academic language compared to their younger, elementary counterparts."

Research shows that English language learners can learn better and faster when English instruction is combined with content than they can in language-only classes.

"Thus, the role of content-area teachers is critical in English language learners' academic success," said Dr. Cho.

The grant project will provide services and activities largely in three areas: summer institutes, follow-ups with technical assistance and building of professional learning communities.