CCS Guide To Research & Program Evaluation

January 2025

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Non-TESOL Trained Educators of English Language Learners: Experiences, Challenges and Recommended Supports

Jaime Elledge, PhD

Introduction and Background

My role:

Business and technology teacher – 13 years

Administrator – 3 years

Grades 9-12 with multiple abilities and disabilities including gifted, special education and English language learners

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Where my interest began:

15 years of teaching at the high poverty, urban district in Ohio including working with English language learners

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Problem:

English language learners increasing in schools, but teachers lack TESOL(Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) knowledge to adequately instruct English language learners in the general education setting

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Background Information

(Ohio Department of Education, 2011); (Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, 2023a)

Background Information

(Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, 2023a)

Research Questions

How do non-TESOL trained general educators describe their current experiences with English language learners in the classroom?

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How do non-TESOL trained general educators describe the key challenges in the classroom with English language learners?

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What support do non-TESOL trained general educators think will help to meet the needs of the English language learners in the classroom?

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Methodology

Basic Qualitative Design

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The qualitative method is used to explore a perceived problem, gather data, analyze the data and create a conclusionary report (Creswell and Poth, 2018).

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This method was chosen to give meaning to the experiences of the teachers and develop a list of recommended supports (Merriam, 2009).

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Methodology

Data Collection Tools

Screening survey (Survey Monkey)

Semi-Structured interview questionnaire

Field Notes

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Data Collection Procedures

IRB approval and District approval

Screening survey sent to principals/administrators in the three selected schools

Select participants and implement zoom interviews

Transcribe through Otter software

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Methodology

Criterion Sampling

12 educators from 3 identified high schools within district

Educators worked with English language learners in a general education environment

Educators did not have (nor pursuing) a TESOL endorsement

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Data Analysis Techniques

Inductive coding (Merriam, 2009)

Deductive coding (Linneberg & Korsgaar, 2019)

Nvivo software to verify coding

Analyze the themes

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Participants

Participants

• 58% female 42% male
• 67% classroom teachers,
• 33% non-classroom teachers (counselor, social worker, librarian)
• 50% worked for another district in their career
• 33% worked in another career field prior to teaching

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How do non-TESOL trained general educators describe their current experiences with English language learners in the classroom?�

Experiences – cultural understanding

• Smaller school identified English language learners as a special education student
• Lack of understanding with identification as ELL and/or special ed, which can cause a lack in support or resources
• Elementary student viewed as the “man of the house” while the father was away, which caused a power struggle in school
• Diaz et al. (2016), students felt supported and expressed positive feelings of being confident and motivated by supportive teachers. Embracing differences in music, art, reading, etc.

Experiences – working with students in the classroom

• Students often translate for adults
• Learning the students’ culture in the classroom, which allows to build the relationship with students
• Different languages and dialects at one time, sometimes they do not get along culturally
• Similar to Davila (2019) and the findings with the differences in engagement and behavior between the Spanish and the French students

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Experiences - communication

• Learned Spanish teaching in El Salvador
• Learned how to navigate language by teaching English in China
• Different ways to communicate with parents & students – translate apps, translators, service providers, written translated material
• Language and vocabulary is becoming increasingly more important, even for native English speakers. As of January 2023, the State of Ohio requires educators with an Early, Primary, Middle or Intervention Special license to also pass the Foundations of Reading exam (Ohio Department of Education and Workforce).

How do non-TESOL trained general educators describe the key challenges in the classroom with English language learners?�

Challenges – inside the classroom

• Universal Design models – help with special education and English language learners
• Pull-out model – works on basic needs, but students miss the lesson happening in the classroom
• Dictionaries – great for written languages, not for oral languages
• More hands-on learning in addition to reading to learn
• Whiting’s (2017) research on the pros and cons of the push-in and pull-out methods

Challenges – outside the classroom

• Testing for special education
• Schools without ELL services, but have ELL students
• Limitations with database software (one language per family)
• Lack of knowledge of our expectations of parents and students
• Banse and Palacios (2018) research how Latino families were embracing the Familia culture with the school and the importance of the student/teacher/family relationships

What support do non-TESOL trained general educators think will help to meet the needs of the English language learners in the classroom?�

Recommended Supports – professional development

• “we don’t know what we don’t know”
• Continual and changing based on the needs of the educators
• Common amongst most interviewees, but less that specific about needs
• Polat and Mahalingappa (2013) study that the beliefs held by the teachers about what they can and cannot do may influence the instruction provided. The study was not looking at the professional development needed for teachers working with English language learners, but felt it was necessary. The authors were concerned about the teachers believing they do not have time, nor the responsibility to focus on the language development of the English language learners.

Recommended supports – additional adults

• English language learner advocate – help the parents understand school, translate the transcript, tour the school, explain how school works – lunch, class, times, transportation
• Additional teachers to co-teach with general education teachers
• Additional Instructional Assistants to work with small groups, support students in general education classrooms
• Admiraala et al.’s (2021) defined some support options as forums, Professional Learning Communities, tools and professional development.

Conclusion

• Continual learning of incoming cultures
• Continual learning of technology to improve communication
• Site based management – fluid, changing, growing
• Improved Professional Development
• More adults to work with students in various roles
• How can we help families gain knowledge and feel supported?
• How can we utilize our resources in the best ways? (SP/ESL, like languages, people, PD).
• How can we advocate for change beyond CCS?

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Recommendations

• TESOL educators assisting general education teachers as students are learning English proficiency seems to be an area where there is little information available. “Relatively little research has been conducted to determine the proportion of teachers of English language learners who have received training in using instructional strategies that most benefit ELLs” (Gandara & Santibanez, 2016)

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• Continue to work towards providing needed supports for educators, which will vary and change depending on the educator and the student
• Every school has successes and challenges. How can we communicate those glows and grows with each other and learn from them?
• How can we share resources between schools and specialties?
• How can we share the resources beyond the sheltered teachers?
• How can we embrace teaching and learning with a different lens?

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Lessons Learned and Overall Take-Aways

• Personal lessons I learned:
• I can!
• I did!
• I would do it again, just quicker!

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• Overall Take-Aways
• We have amazing educators in our district!
• We have amazing things happening in our district, but we do not always see how amazing we are (What about May PD being a Region Success Day?)

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• “Every child deserves a champion – an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”

- Rita Pierson

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Limitations

• COVID 19 Pandemic
• Zoom interviews
• Less personal
• Users more confident after

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Thank you!

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