Program Design. A District's Dual Needs: Bilingual Teachers Who "Look Like Our Students"

• In Event: AERA Handbook Session 1

Abstract

This chapter is a documentary account of a partnership between Illinois State University and Illinois School District U-46, which produced a pipeline of bilingual teachers for the district’s dual language schools. Funded by a federal grant from the Office of English Language Acquisition, the program prepared bilingual paraprofessionals to become bilingual teachers. This chapter discusses the collaboration, planning, implementation, and results of the program, as it explores the assets of the paraprofessionals and the systemic, educational, and personal barriers that challenged them as they pursued their dream of becoming bilingual teachers. The chapter also addresses how the program responded to participants’ needs by incorporating an ethic of caring, and it calls for more research on non-traditional students of color.

Authors

• Pauline Williams, Illinois State University

• Elizabeth A. Skinner, Illinois State University