Interview Process and Course Project Update

This interview process is going well. I am interviewing the English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in my school and the Assistant Director of the Bright Beginnings program that I work for. I had the pleasure of sitting down with the ESL teacher while we planned our second Spanish Family Social.Sitting with this teacher I have learned so much about how Spanish children develop and the effects of not having early intervention and what resources these families are lacking in. Throughout the interview process with the ESL teacher I appreciated her letting me see what assessments she uses with the K-5 children. I also appreciated the collaboration to put on another social for our Spanish families. With interviewing the Assistant Director of my program I appreciate her taking time out of her busy schedule to allow me to interview her. I have been very successful in setting up a meeting time to interview them because I understand that their time is valuable,

An important experience that I can relate to both interviewees is that neither of them started out working directly with English Language Learning (ELL) children. I realized that they both started as general education teachers and saw a need to reach out to ELL children later in their career. As more and more ELL children enter school younger I am thankful for teachers that take the time to assist in their development, I am especially thankful to my Assistant Director who identified that teachers needed more training on ELL students and referring them for special education. She has provided effective professional development that has shaped the way teachers view ELL students. We still do not have a concrete approach but we are working towards one.

This leads me to my course project. My project will seek to understand what factors teachers use to identify an ELL student as needing special education. This quantitative study will examine the views and opinions of teachers and therapist that directly work with ELL students. From this project more direct professional development can be implemented to train teachers on  working with ELL students and understanding when they should recommend an ELL student for special education.  I have found several articles about the risk factors and stress that ELL families endure especially when it comes to education. In previous classes I never considered the risk and stress that ELL families experience and the stress of teachers working with ELL students.

Questions:

Does your school system provide professional development on ELL students and families.
Do you ever recommend an ELL child for Speech and Language Services? What factors led you to make this decision?



2nd Spanish Family Social and resource distribution!