2025-26 Arkansas ESOL Institutes

Announcement and Registration Information

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Overview/Purpose:

Public school districts in Arkansas have an obligation to provide the personnel and resources necessary to effectively implement their chosen ESOL programs (Rules Governing Student Special Needs Funding: 5.05.1-5.05.7). This obligation includes having an adequate number of highly qualified teachers to provide language assistance services, trained administrators who can evaluate these teachers, and adequate and appropriate materials for the ESOL programs. 

The ESOL Institute is a high-quality educator training program for Arkansas licensed educators leading to their eligibility to apply for an Arkansas ESOL Endorsement.  

The ESOL Institute is a hybrid program consisting of:

• 80 hours of face-to-face or synchronous training
• Four (4) online courses requiring at least an additional 25+ hours of work per course
• 12 graduate credit hours earned upon completion

Approximately half of the 80 hours of face-to-face/synchronous learning takes place in the summer, with the additional hours completed throughout the school year as the participants apply new concepts in their classrooms. What makes this different from simply taking the 12 graduate hours through a traditional program is the opportunity to hear from national and regional experts on effectively teaching English Learners!  
One goal of the 2025-26 ESOL Institute is to increase the number of ESOL Endorsed teachers in Arkansas by providing scholarships to all participants to cover the cost of tuition/fees/one ESOL Praxis registration! This is potentially a ONE-TIME opportunity!

Invitation to Arkansas Educators:

The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is pleased to invite Arkansas educators to apply to an ESOL Institute of their choosing! Participants will have the opportunity to complete the ESOL Institute and earn 12 graduate credits qualifying licensed educators to apply for an ESOL Endorsement (247) with a passing score on the ESOL 5362 Praxis exam. For the 2025-26 year ONLY, each participant will receive a scholarship to cover the cost of tuition/fees and one registration for the ESOL Praxis, and must sign an ESOL Institute Educator Commitment Form (preview generic sample here - not to be completed unless accepted to the 25-26 ESOL Institute), which requires participants to obtain an ESOL Endorsement or reimburse their chosen university the cost of the scholarship issued on their behalf.

Past ESOL Institutes have over a 98% ESOL Praxis pass rate and you may take it more than once (this scholarship only covers the cost of the initial Praxis exam).

The ESOL Endorsement allows licensed teachers to teach in positions requiring ESOL credentials and ensures educators holding such an endorsement have the training required to effectively provide language assistance services in a variety of classrooms.

Applicants must be working with, or have access to, English Learners in the classroom on a consistent basis in order to complete assignments.

ESOL Institute Sites:

Each ESOL Institute provides the equivalent of 80 hours of face-to-face or synchronous training and four (4) courses addressing Second Language Acquisition, Teaching People of Other Cultures, Second Language Methodology, and Second Language Assessment.

All sites which provide face-to-face sessions have the capacity for housing participants who drive more than one-hour each way for the face-to-face sessions. Participants at all sites will be provided books, materials, and online learning system access. Specific details about housing and meals may be obtained from each site’s director. For the 2025-26 ESOL Institute year only, participants will also receive a full-tuition scholarship for 12 graduate credit hours and one ESOL Praxis registration. In future ESOL Institutes (2026-27), participants may be responsible for the cost of tuition/ESOL Praxis.

The intensive and focused instruction and assignments teachers receive from this experience (along with support from the university instructors) will provide them with the knowledge and skills to effectively work with English Learners in their classroom and to pass the ESOL Praxis required for an ESOL Endorsement.

Participants will assume all transportation expenses to and from the ESOL Institute site (when face-to-face sessions are required) and cost of University registration (see details below).

Acceptance to the 2025-26 ESOL Institutes will be limited. Teachers are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Criteria for selection will include:

1. the need for ESOL services in a teacher’s school district, as well as
2. the need to balance participation by geographic region of the state, district size, EL enrollment, and
3. the applicant’s role within the school

In order to qualify for consideration, applicants must be licensed and employed full-time in an Arkansas public or charter school.

Participants need not have been employed during the 2024-2025 school year if they have received confirmation of a contract for the 2025-2026 school year. Districts will be contacted to confirm a teacher’s employment. Questions about this aspect of the ESOL Institute may be addressed to the site directors.

Priority will be given to those applying by Tuesday, April 15, 2025.

Applications received after this date will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis or added to a waiting list.

Registration for the 2025-26 ESOL Institute is a two-step process.

Step 1: Complete and submit the online Arkansas ESOL Institute Application where site preference will be indicated by the applicant by Tuesday, April 15, 2025. All sites are open to educators from across Arkansas. (Please note that the University of Central Arkansas site will be conducted entirely virtually. All other sites are face-to-face in the summer and virtually during the school year.) 

Step 2: Complete the registration process with the assigned university following directions provided in the acceptance letter. Initial acceptance letters will be emailed by May 1, 2025. Payment of a small registration fee will be due at that time. Prompt response is required.

After submitting the online Arkansas ESOL Institute Application teachers will receive an email confirming their submission.

DESE Expectations

In accepting this DESE educator training opportunity, you are agreeing to:

1. complete all assignments satisfactorily for graduate credit,
2. pass the ESOL 5362 Praxis, and
3. obtain an Arkansas ESOL Endorsement (247).

DESE is issuing a full tuition scholarship, in addition to the funds necessary to provide national/regional expert trainers, an instructor of record, books/materials, learning management systems, ESOL Praxis registration and other items costing an average of $6,300 per participant.

This will be an intensive, demanding 80 hours of synchronous virtual and/or face-to-face training, plus online work to equal approximately 180 hours (i.e. 45 hours per content course). Attendance is expected at all synchronous virtual and/or face-to-face training sessions. There will be four (4) courses to be completed as online modules during the 2025-26 school year.

All participating educators will be required to do all assignments via the university’s online learning system. Instructions for using the online learning systems will be provided during the summer sessions. Each cohort of educators will be assigned to an instructor of record who will be on-site during their assigned sessions. Instructors will design, read/evaluate assignments, give constructive feedback on the participants’ submissions, and stay in contact weekly with their cohort of educators throughout the year-long institute.

NOTE: Participants who withdraw early will be required to reimburse their university the costs incurred on their behalf to date.

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