Rural Resource: Professional Development in ESL for Teachers at a Distance
Abstract: Rural teachers increasingly encounter the need to differentiate instruction for second language learners, but find they need additional preparation in order to provide this instruction successfully. Colleges will often establish satellite programs for remote groups, but rural districts can’t always provide the “critical mass” of participants which make this strategy realistic. E-Learning, however, can create cohorts which conjoin numerous sites as learning communities, creating an effective response for rural educators across the inevitable distances. This session highlights PROJECT ECU LEAP, a Professional Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition to provide needs assessment and responsive programs to meet the needs of this growing population. This best practices session will showcase methods, assessment, linguistic theory, professionalism and advocacy, with a special emphasis on the intersection of language and culture.
Presider: Norman Garrett, Eastern Illinois University