Presentation at the 2018 MATSOL Conference in Framingham, Massachusetts

1. What should good Professional Development
have?
1. Locate a small whiteboard, or
someone with a small whiteboard.
2. Introduce yourself to the people
around you.
3. With your small group, respond to
the prompt with 1 or 2 words.

2. Professional Development for Content
Teachers: 3 Suggestions for
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Omar Longus, Julie Whitlow,
& Melanie Gonzalez
SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY

3. Background: Project SAEL
2012 National Professional Development through the Office of English
Language Acquisition
● Three LEA/Partner Districts: Salem, Lynn, Revere
● Initial Licensure Program in TESOL at the Graduate Level
5 graduate courses + supervised practicum and seminar
● Initial Licensure Program in Teaching at the Undergraduate Level
Education + STEM double majors
● Ongoing Professional Development Opportunities
● Faculty Learning Communities & Professional Learning Communities

4. Participant Completers
Graduate Undergraduate
Current teachers 55 members
New teachers 7 members 6 members
Returning teachers 2 members
Total 64 members 6 members

6. Graduate ESL Licensure Courses
● Culture and Context in TESOL
● Methods of TESOL
● Assessment of ELs
● Linguistics for Language Teachers
● Sheltering Content for ELLs (if needed for SEI Endorsement)
● Seminar in TESOL
● Supervised Student Teaching Practicum

7. Professional Development Highlights
● Best Practices in EL Writing
● Teaching Science Literacy to PreK-6 ELLs
● Preparing Teachers for English Learners: School of Education at Salem State
University
● Professional Learning Community Mini-Conference
● Teaching Diverse Learners: Family and Community Engagement
● 2015 PETALLs Conference
● TESOL Graduate Alumni Speaker Series & Completer Celebration

8. Professional Learning Communities
● LEA teachers received funding to run semester-long learning communities
to directly address the needs of ELs or teachers of ELs in their school or
district.
● Topics included:
○ Effectively Integrating ELs in Advisory at Revere High
○ After School Computer Club for ELs at Lynn English High
○ Effective Strategies for teaching Math to ELs at Lynn Classical High
○ Creating a Cohesive, Inclusive Writing Program at Salem High

9. Data collected and analyzed
Pre- and post-surveys
Portfolios of coursework
Practicum assessments (CAP)
Qualitative and quantitative analyses

10. Results - Candidate Assessment of Performance
N M SD t Sig.
CAP 1.A.4 Well-Structured Lessons 48 3.38 .49 5.31 .00*
CAP 1.B.2 Adjustment to Practice 48 3.29 .49 4.40 .00*
CAP 2.A.3 Meeting Diverse Needs 48 3.31 .69 3.14 .00*
CAP 2.B.1 Safe Learning Environment 48 3.48 .71 4.65 .00*
CAP 2.D.2 High Expectations 48 3.27 .68 2.78 .01*
CAP 4.A.1 Reflective Practice 48 3.38 .70 3.70 .00*

11. Results - TESOL Professional Standards
N M SD t Sig.
TESOL Domain1 Language 50 3.16 .51 2.22 .03*
TESOL Domain 2 Culture 50 2.58 .73 -4.06 .00*
TESOL Domain 3 Planning and Implementing
Instruction
50 3.34 .63 3.84 .00*
TESOL Domain 4 Assessment 50 3.06 .77 .55 .58
TESOL Domain 5 Professionalism 50 2.68 .68 -3.31 .00*

12. Result 1:
Attitudinal shifts
Shift in participants’ definition of
an EL
Shift in viewing the achievement
gap as an individual, familial,
sociocultural factor to more
instructional, systemic/
institutional issues
Shift in general language policy

13. When you hear the term “English Learner” what
thoughts come to mind?

14. Why do you think that there is an achievement gap
between ELs and their monolingual English-
speaking peers?

15. Should all citizens of the U.S. be required to learn
to speak at least two languages fluently?

16. Result 2:
More focus on
language and
language
acquisition
Shifts in best ways to learn
language
Shifts in best ways to teach
language
Shifts in best ways to assess
content and language

17. What do you think are the best ways to learn a new
language?

18. What do you think are the best ways to teach English to ELs
at the grade level and content area in which you teach or
intend to teach?

19. What are ways that schools can foster academic success for
students whose L1 is not English at the grade level and
content area in which you teach or intend to teach?

20. Result 3:
Increase in teacher
confidence
Improved lesson planning &
delivery
Possessed more strategies &
resources
Cited more explicit attention to
language
Trickled down to their students

21. Please describe at least two concrete ways that your teaching
has changed since your participation

22. Please describe any positive effects that the changes in your
approach or instruction have had on student learning

23. Outcomes achieved Lessons
learnedProfessionalizing ESOL teachers/Field of
TESOL
Can develop content area teachers’
capacity to:
● Understand SLA
● Assess for language in content area
classes
● Plan for and implement language
instruction
● Collaborate with ESOL educators
● Shift views of ELs and their needs
Need to integrate better and more
robust models of how culture impacts
learning
More bilingual options, how to use L1
effectively & with purpose
Conflicting reports on confidence
Never can have enough collaboration!

24. Suggestion 1:
Foster meaningful
learning
communities
Foster agency - choice among
teachers/participants
Guidance, structure, no micro-
managing
Local and responsive
Foster a “dual-purpose” mindset

25. Suggestion 2:
More explicit
integration of and
attention to culture
More focus on culture beyond
“culture night” to include
meaningful integration into
classroom norms, curriculum
Social justice
Advocacy
Community and family
engagement

26. Suggestion 3:
Meaningful
collaboration
Common planning time
Co-teaching models
Work with educators in different
content areas; include a variety of
stakeholders
Integrate how to collaborate into
teacher preparation programs

29. May we
answer your
questions?