Bilingual Education Collaborating Alliance

Note: This project is no longer active

Project Summary
The Bilingual Education Collaborating Alliance (BECA) was a three-year program to alleviate the severe shortage of bilingual education and English as a second language (ESL) teachers in Texas. The project supported teacher preparation and certification through alternative teacher certification routes for bilingual and Spanish dominant career-changing professionals and recent college graduates - in fields other than education - who desire to enter teaching and have a specific interest in bilingual education. A special focus of the project was recruitment of professionals from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries who are legal residents and can work in the United States.

The BECA Alliance
BECA was implemented by the Bilingual Education Collaborating Alliance comprised of the Intercultural Development Research Association, the University of Texas Pan American in Edinburg, Texas, and the Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Project Participants
Eighty-five qualified bilingual and Spanish-dominant mid-career professionals and recent college graduates interested in becoming bilingual education or ESL teachers were trained, certified and placed in bilingual classrooms as a result of the program.

Project Beneficiaries (school districts)
Project beneficiaries are specific school districts in central and south Texas that have significant numbers of limited-English-proficient students and that have a current identified need for additional new bilingual education and ESL teachers. Recipients include small- to large-sized school districts that have specifically requested assistance in alleviating their bilingual/ESL teacher shortages through this project.

Project Components
BECA was comprised of four components.

• Early identification and recruitment of qualified (bilingual and Spanish dominant) professionals and recent graduates
• Training for certification through established and recognized alternative route university teacher certification programs
• Placement of teachers in bilingual education and ESL classrooms in schools with severe staffing needs
• Ongoing mentoring and support to ensure that participants complete course work and other certification requirements, strengthen their professional development, and maintain their decision to make teaching in this area their long-term career goals.

Outcomes

• Recruitment of professionals with outstanding academic backgrounds and excellent skills in Spanish
• A streamlined, focused approach through the use of research-based exemplary teacher preparation practices
• Professional placement and extended support in high need classrooms
• A manual for recruitment for schools and universities to broaden and strengthen recruitment efforts
• Capacity building for teachers to develop self-sustaining ability and retention in teaching through a platicas (discussion groups) series involving mentor classroom teachers, new recruits, and university faculty
• Documentation of best practices through a lessons learned document
• Aggressive communication and dissemination that will enhance schools' capacity to replicate and scale-up best practices resulting from this effort.

The Certification Program
Teacher preparation occured through an accelerated certification program offered to already degreed professionals through the University of Texas – Pan American (in Edinburg) and Southwest Texas State University (in San Marcos). This training prepared individuals to earn a teaching certificate in elementary or secondary education, and an endorsement in bilingual education or ESL, as required by the state of Texas.

The program involved enrolling in teacher certification courses and concurrently working as a teacher intern in a bilingual classroom in a school district that agreed to hire the intern as a first-year teacher. The foreign-born Spanish-speaking professional could be employed either as a teacher or in a non-certified personnel position, depending on the particular district's bilingual program needs and the interns qualifications.

Courses were taken for a period of approximately one year. Two program tracks were available. One for U.S.-born professionals and another for foreign-born, legal resident professionals who participated in English-language development classes and pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the English proficiency test required by the project for university admission.

[It was possible for qualified individuals to work toward teaching certification and a master's degree; however, this route required some additional courses, and work with the university to obtain a degree plan and information on additional financial support.]