STAFF DEVELOPMENT

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While overall K-12 enrollment in Pennsylvania schools has shown a slight decrease, the enrollment of English language learners has shown an increase of over 500% in the last four years (OELA, U.S. Department of Education, 2001). These changing demographics have presented schools with new staff and faculty development needs that must be addressed if schools are going to help language minority students be successful.

As school populations change, administrators and teachers are faced with the challenge of knowing which strategies work best with ELLs, as well as the need for basic understanding of second language acquisition and training in issues of cultural diversity. Administrators and teachers must also know federal and state regulations that provide legislative policies on the education of language minority students.

It is important to recognize that with ELLs, staff development goes beyond administrators and teachers. The school personnel many families first encounter are secretaries. They are often the most important people influencing whether or not families feel welcomed and whether or not they will participate in school functions. Secretaries, counselors, and school staff should be trained on issues that address cultural and linguistic diversity.

Professional development is not only a necessary component of a successful program for English language learners but is a required section of a district's Act 48 Continuing Professional Development (CPE) Plan. To effectively address the needs of second language learners, the CPE plan should include opportunities for district personnel to acquire knowledge in the second language acquisition process, cultural sensitivity, adapting/modifying classroom instruction, and appropriate assessment practices. Because training will be needed for both professional and nonprofessional personnel, this section of the Kit contains a recommended list of CPE needs for administrators and teachers and for support staff (e.g., secretaries, paraprofessionals). This list focuses on topics that contain the knowledge and skills needed to implement and monitor an effective program for ELLs.

The suggested professional development programs are not intended to replace the mandatory ESL training program for teachers who were required to complete the Program Specialist-ESL certificate by the school year 2004-2005. Guidelines for the acquisition of this certificate and the content to be mastered are included in Appendix G.

In addition to providing a recommended list of CPE topics, this section of the Kit also includes specific instructional information for ELLs that could be used in a staff development session. This includes information related to the student's communicative abilities within each of the four stages of the second language acquisition process (pre-conversational, beginning, intermediate, and advanced) as well as effective instructional strategies for that phase of language development. Because a third grade pre-conversational student might face different challenges than an eleventh grade pre-conversational child, specific age appropriate information has been included in the text where pertinent. A discussion has also been provided in this section on using high frequency word lists and word walls to promote increased understanding of the English language.