Transforming Challenges into Opportunities: Designing and Implementing Professional Learning for Rural Educators of Multilingual Learners

• In Event: NPD (National Professional Development) Grant-Generated Challenges: Moving the Field of Effective MLL (Multilingual Learner) Instruction Forward

Abstract

Over the last two decades, many rural school districts have experienced a significant increase in their English Learner (EL) student population (Coady, 2020). However, educators working with multilingual learners (MLLs) remain under-prepared to serve their increasingly diverse student populations (Coady et al., 2019). This presentation highlights the opportunities and challenges of designing and implementing a professional learning (PL) program to build rural educators’ capacity serving with MLLs.
The PL program, funded by a National Professional Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, employs a teacher-led collaborative inquiry approach designed to leverage the strengths of rural schools and address their distinct needs in serving MLLs. During the two-year program, participating in-service teachers engage in a series of inquiry cycles focused on equity-centered teaching practices, effective language and literacy instruction for MLLs, and fostering MLLs’ sense of belonging. We use the frameworks of culturally sustaining pedagogies (Alim & Paris, 2017) and rural cultural wealth (Crumb et al., 2022) to examine shifts in teachers’ practice and the development of teachers’ self-efficacy through participation in the PL program.
This presentation highlights preliminary findings from a five-year qualitative collective case study investigating the effectiveness of the program. The data set comes from four participating rural districts in Wisconsin and includes focal teacher observations and interviews, interviews with site coordinators (district-level administrator and/or EL teacher leaders and coordinators), recordings of PL sessions, and online artifacts (e.g., individual teacher reflections). The data was coded thematically for themes related to rural cultural wealth, culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogy, and the process of collaborative inquiry.
Implementing the PL program required navigating multiple challenges, including recruiting and retaining participants, adapting the program to fit the needs and available resources of diverse rural districts, and supporting teacher’s understanding of the collaborative inquiry process. Preliminary findings suggest that sustained collaboration in district-based teams, a key feature of the PL program, plays a key role in supporting teachers’ shifts in practice and self-efficacy. Teachers reported that evidence-based inquiry tailored to their local context enabled them to progress towards collective goals for improving programs and services for multilingual students and families. Teachers also reported that collaborating on inquiry topics and activities expanded their understanding of equity-centered practices and ability to meet the needs of MLLs in their classrooms. Initial findings also reveal that many teachers view their rural context as an asset in working with multilingual students and families.
Examining teachers' shifts in practice and self-efficacy in the context of the PL program has led to insights into the needs of rural educators of MLLs. Given the scarcity of both PL programs and research targeting in-service rural educators of MLLs, this program contributes to our understanding of effective features of PL for in-service rural teachers, such as: incentivized sustained collaboration, professional learning situated in the context of teachers’ practice, and relevance to local needs and resources. These findings make significant contributions to understanding Wisconsin’s unique educational landscape and provide valuable insights for the broader field of ML education across the United States.

Authors

• Anshika Bhasin, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Jennifer Wilfrid, University of Wisconsin - Madison