The ESOL Endorsement for Teachers (ESLT) program has been developed for practicing teachers who wish to learn more about supporting English language learners (ELLs) in their classroom and developed skills needed to become ESOL specialist in the future. The program is designed to meet the needs of the working teacher. The cohort-model program is a 13-month program that is a mix of online learning and face-to-face meetings where the teachers are. In other words, the program travels to the teachers rather than making teachers travel to Bellingham. We understand that teachers come to this program with skills, knowledge, and experiences that will deepen everyone's learning.
The ESOL Endorsement for Teachers (ESLT) program has two tracks. The first is an endorsement program that can be fully rolled into the Masters of Education in Language and Literacy at Western Washington University. The classes are all 500-level courses. The second track has 400-level courses. Teachers enrolled in both tracks will take the courses together and learn from each other.
For more information on the program go to wwu.edu/esol.
Why Consider an ESOL Endorsement for Teachers?
Students who are English language learners are the fastest growing student population in the public school system. Statewide, approximately 10% of all P-12 students are ELLs, but in some districts that percentage is much, much higher In order to meet the needs of this diverse population in the regular classroom and as an ESOL specialist, we need teachers at all grade levels and content areas who have the ESOL endorsement. For many schools, this is a highly recommended endorsement.
Teachers with the endorsement in English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) from Western Washington University possess in-depth understandings of the role of cultural and linguistic diversity in each student's education. Our program prepares classroom teachers to be able to support ESOLs more successfully. This program also prepares classroom teachers to become ESOL specialists.
The ESOL endorsement program prepares you to:
- Obtain the WA state endorsement for English to Speakers of Other Languages.
- Teach a range of language learners in a mainstream classroom.
- Support ELLs as an ESOL specialist
- Work with families from various cultures and home languages.
- Serve as a resource for other teachers.
- Plan instruction using the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP).
- Instruct using effective methods including strategies from the Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAD).
- Thrive in culturally and linguistically diverse settings.