Indiana launches Licensing Assistance Program for English learner teachers - WBIW.com

INDIANA  – The Indiana Department of Education contiguous announced a concern with the University of Indianapolis’ Center of Excellence successful Leadership of Learning (CELL) to fortify Indiana’s English learner-teacher pipeline by helping money coursework starring to afloat licensure. 

The caller concern called the Indiana Teachers of English Learners Licensure (I-TELL) initiative, volition money tuition, books, and worldly fees for existent educators and bachelor’s grade holders to implicit coursework starring to English arsenic a New Language (ENL) licensure. This volition empower existent educators licensed successful different contented areas to service English learners arsenic a teacher of grounds – the pedagogue chiefly liable for a student’s learning. It volition besides supply fiscal enactment to radical who take to modulation into a caller vocation successful teaching and privation to beryllium a portion of serving Indiana’s much than 77,500 English learner students.

Dr. Katie Jenner

“Our COVID-19 world interaction information shows that Indiana’s English learner students experienced important world impacts and person inactive not returned to pre-pandemic year-over-year world growth,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “The champion mode to guarantee our students accelerate their learning is to guarantee they person quality, well-trained teachers supporting them. Like STEM and peculiar acquisition teachers, we besides spot a important request for English learner teachers. Through the caller I-TELL initiative, we volition supply opportunities for much educators to beryllium trained and certified to thatch and positively interaction our English learner students.”

An archetypal database of pedagogue mentation and modulation to teaching programs participating successful the I-TELL inaugural is available here. Additional colleges and universities funny successful participating successful the I-TELL inaugural are besides invited to join.

Carey Dahncke

“The fig of students successful Indiana who don’t talk English arsenic their archetypal connection continues to rapidly grow,” said Carey Dahncke, enforcement manager of CELL. “For these students, the request to person entree to highly qualified English connection teachers is critically important. I-TELL volition connection assistance to the galore schools crossed the authorities who request much of these English learner-licensed teachers.”   

I-TELL is funded done $2 cardinal from Indiana’s national Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding.

The inaugural launches arsenic the fig of teachers successful Indiana holding ENL licensure has grown by 38% from 2019 to 2021, with implicit 860 much educators present holding this licence statewide than successful 2019. In summation to ENL licensure, galore different educators are besides qualified to service English learners crossed Indiana by gathering previously-available alternative rubric requirements. 

Eligible individuals tin larn much and use for assistance by visiting IndianaTELL.org.