Preparing Academic Leaders: Teachers of English Learners Building Instructional Capacity-- Project PAL-

Abstract

Preparing Academic Leaders: Project PAL is a funded national professional development (NPD, U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, #T365Z170073) grant for 120 certified in-service teachers (three cohorts of 40 teachers each), who serve on campuses with large numbers of English learners (ELs), with the intent to prepare campus leaders who can improve instruction to increase ELs’ academic achievement and enroll in the Texas A&M Univeristy (TAMU), Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development (EAHRD) Principal Preparation Program. These in-service teachers meet high professional standards as they receive dual (two) advanced professional certifications in bilingual or English as second language (ESL) education and leadership. The 800 total hours of PD is divided as follows: 540 hours of professional development (PD) and 260 hours of practicum throughout the year (100 hours) and an intensive summer leadership campus residency or a traditional leadership practicum course (160 hours) on a campus that serves ELs supported via a joint program with Educational Administration and Bilingual Education in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). The intent is to train bilingual/ESL teacher leaders to “lead” efforts to increase instructional capacity on such campuses; in this way, the efforts of this project multiplies beyond the 120 participants. Project PAL includes participants from across Texas. Project PAL is supported by EAHRD, the Department of Educational Psychology, the Center for Research and Development in Dual Language and Literacy Acquisition (CRDLLA) and the Education Leadership Research Center (ELRC) at TAMU