SCSU AWARDED $1.5M TO TRAIN EDUCATORS  OF NON-NATIVE
ENGLISH-SPEAKING STUDENTS

Program to Benefit New Haven, Windham, Norwich, New London Teachers

NEW HAVEN, CONN., August 7, 2007 – A $1.5 million federal grant will enable Southern Connecticut State University to train some 300 Connecticut educators in how to more effectively teach students who are non-native English speakers.

The five-year, U.S. Department of Education grant will primarily benefit teachers in the New Haven School District, as well as those in the Windham, New London and Norwich school districts. It will allow teachers to be trained with no tuition or fee costs assessed to them.

SCSU’s Training All Teachers (TAT) program will coordinate the efforts, which begin next month.

Marisa Ferraro, TAT program manager, said that students whose first language is not English traditionally have been taught in separate classrooms throughout much of the day.

“Today, there is a realization that this method has largely failed,” Ferraro said. “The movement now is toward teaching these students in the same classroom as those whose native language is English. But there is a shortage of teachers and administrators who are trained in how to teach these students. This grant will let us provide valuable training so that the instruction English language learners receive continues to improve.”

The grant calls for:

  *A total of 28 teachers (15 from the New Haven School District and 13 from Windham, New London and Norwich) to earn a master’s degree in TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) and certification in ESL (English as a Second Language) during the next five years. A group of 10 New Haven teachers will begin the program in September, while the eastern Connecticut group will start next spring. A second group of New Haven teachers will begin in 2010. The program generally takes three to four years to complete.

*Six native-Spanish speaking teachers from the New Haven School District to become certified in bilingual education, beginning in 2010.

 *About 15 New Haven teachers to complete a 3-credit course on “sheltered instruction,” which refers to the teaching of English language learners in the same classroom as other students. The course is scheduled to be offered in 2010.

 *A total of 250 Connecticut teachers (open to all districts but with priority given to those from New Haven, Windham, New London and Norwich) to complete a 10-hour workshop on sheltered instruction. This program will include 50 teachers a year, beginning in the upcoming school year.

Lorrie Verplaetse, SCSU professor of TESOL and TAT project director, said the grant provides a significant boost to education in Connecticut. “Our goal is to increase the pool of highly qualified teachers available to teach students whose native language is not English,” she said.

Verplaetse said this is the largest grant the TAT program, which is federally funded, has ever received.

“We are really excited about this opportunity to improve student learning for non-native English speakers,” she said.

(Anyone interested in learning more about the program should contact TAT program manager Marisa Ferraro at 392-5162.)

Contact: Joe Musante, SCSU Public Affairs, (203) 392-5073

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