Date of Award

5-2013

Degree Type

Creative Project

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Special Education and Rehabilitation

Committee Chair(s)

Lillian Durán

Committee

Lillian Durán

Committee

Susan Turner

Committee

Nancy Glomb

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to develop and present a training session for elementary school teachers and other Personnel who teach and work with English Language Learners (ELL). The training provides information on evidence based instructional strategies to help teachers improve their teaching methods with students who speak languages other than English. The lack of teacher knowledge in utilizing culturally and linguistically responsive teaching methods may be contributing to the over identification of ELLs in special education. This situation reinforces the need for additional teacher training for those who teach students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This creative project fills a need in the field by (1) accessing teacher needs and presenting improved educational strategies for elementary school teachers serving ELLs, (2) developing and making available a training including input and responses for a needs assessment, (3) providing the initial training, (4) including a section on instructing and understanding how a second language acquisition process goes through a sequential series of stages, (5) measuring the effectiveness of the training via pre-post tests administered to the participants.

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