Ensuring Success for English Language Learners

English faculty Adams and Thrush receive $2.6M to serve the growing population of English Language Learners in our local school districts

Dr. Rebecca Adams and Dr. Emily Thrush, professors in the English Department at UofM, have received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition for a total of $2.6 million over a span of 5 years. The focus of the grant is to help bilinguals and multilinguals become licensed English as Second Language (ESL) teachers to serve the growing population of English Language Learners in our local school districts. The co-principal investigators worked with Memphis Shelby County Schools and the College of Education to develop a proposal to help to meet local needs for licensed bilingual and multilingual teachers. Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) serves more than 113,000 students, with more than 12,000 identified as English language learners, a number that has doubled over the past 10 years.

The program will be recruiting candidates to complete the licensure requirements from several groups: first, the bilingual mentors currently employed by MSCS, many of whom have degrees or some coursework from institutions in the US and other countries, undergraduates interested in completing the B.A. degree with licensure in ESL from the English Department, and students in the Masters of Teaching program in the College of Education interested in licensure in ESL. They will also be recruiting high school students who have earned the Tennessee State Seal of Biliteracy to enter UOM with a full scholarship for the bachelor’s degree. The goal is to increase services for students, and to promote the many benefits of bilingualism. This program will also increase participation in our UofM teacher preparation program.

For more information on this initiative, contact Adams at radams4@memphis.edu, or Thrush at ethrush@memphis.edu.