College of Education Partners with Dallas Teacher Education Program
June 17, 2009
By: Leslie Cranford
New bachelor’s program will produce more bilingual/ESL teachers.
Texas Tech University’s College of Education is partnering with the Dallas County
Community College District (DCCCD) and Dallas-area school districts to make much-needed
bilingual/English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teacher certification accessible to more
people.
Texas Tech will offer its existing Bachelor of Science in Multidisciplinary Studies
(leading to EC-6 teacher certification in bilingual education and ESL) to students
completing core requirements at community colleges in the Dallas area, including Mountain
View College and Richland College.
The program partners also will work with Dallas-area paraprofessionals to complete
core requirements before admission to the Texas Tech College of Education. Online
instruction will begin in fall 2009.
Specifically, courses leading to initial certification as a bilingual/ESL teacher
will be delivered through web-based instruction. Fewer than half of the 129 credits
required for the degree will be offered by Texas Tech. Most, if not all, of the Texas
Tech courses will be delivered online. Community college partners will deliver the
first two years of coursework.
The non-traditional approach to preparing teachers through distance education provides
pathways to baccalaureate degrees in high demand fields for students, said Dora Salazar,
project director in Texas Tech’s College of Education.
“Eligible school district support staff will have an opportunity to earn a bachelor’s
degree while remaining in their current position. The program enables the school districts
in the region to ‘grow their own’ new teachers to help meet staffing needs in bilingual/ESL,
while at the same time rewarding dedicated paraprofessionals, by encouraging professional
growth,” Salazar said.
The partnerships are made possible through a Title III National Professional Development (Project
TEACH) grant received from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language
Acquisition.
Project TEACH (Teacher Education Alliance Collaborative for Higher Education) addresses
a national need to improve education through the preparation and ongoing training
of all teachers serving English Language Learners (ELLs) in the state of Texas. The
Project is designed to increase the pool of highly qualified teachers and is designed
to provide support for pre-service teachers, improve their teaching skills to work
towards certification, and assist educational personnel with ELLs to meet high professional
standards.
For additional information visit
http://www.educ.ttu.edu/projectteach/CONTACT: Dora Salazar, project director, College of Education, Texas Tech University,
(806) 742-1998 ext. 480, or
dora.salazar@ttu.edu; or
Martha Harrison, unit coordinator, (806) 742-1998 ext. 462, or
Martha.harrison@ttu.edu.
Mountain View College: Karen Blue, director, Teacher Preparation Program, (214) 860-8632
or
Kblue@dcccd.edu.
At Richland College: Adriana Rodriguez, director, bilingual/ESL Teacher Preparation, (972) 761-6821, or
adrianarodriguez@dcccd.edu.