COE
awarded grant for bilingual education
By Laurie
Mellas-Ramirez
The United
States Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition
has awarded the UNM Multicultural Bilingual Education Center
and Division of Language Literacy and Sociocultural Studies
in the College of Education a $1.2 million, five-year grant
to boost the number of educators skilled in teaching English
as a Second Language (ESL).
For educational
assistants working in the central and northern part of the state,
the grant will provide scholarships to pursue bachelor degrees
with an emphasis in bilingual/ESL or American Indian education.
The goal is to graduate 40-120 students by 2006.
Sylvia
Celedon-Pattichis, Ph.D., assistant professor of bilingual education,
will direct the program. Leroy Ortiz, Ph.D., is principal investigator.
Based on
models, courses will focus on history and theory of bilingual
education, first and second language development, methods and
materials.
Scholarship
applications will be reviewed beginning Nov. 22 and will be
accepted until 35 part-time and five fulltime grants are awarded.
Awards include tuition, fees, book and travel allowances and
stipends.
A critical
need exists in New Mexico for teachers trained to educate Hispanic
and Native American youth with limited English proficiency.
A recent
survey developed by the UNM Mulicultural Bilingual Education
Center and the Albuquerque Public Schools Language and Cultural
Equity Unit found that only half of all students with limited
English proficiency locally are taught by endorsed bilingual
or ESL teachers.
The
program is in direct response to these shortages of qualified
bilingual/ESL teachers, Ortiz said.
About
half of the Hispanic students in Albuquerque Public Schools
have families that have been here 450 years and the other half
are recent arrivals to New Mexico, Ortiz said. In
the last few years, there has been a dramatic increase in the
number of students coming into the schools from Mexico and Central
America.
Students
with second languages are often misdiagnosed with learning or
other disabilities, he said.
Its
a difference issue, not a disability issue, Ortiz said.
We will teach the skills and strategies needed to work
with children from a second language background whether its
Spanish or Navajo or another language. The goal is to produce
children who are bilingual in their native language and in English.
The UNM
College of Education will soon add a required course on teaching
students with second languages for all elementary education
students, he added.
For information,
call 277-8961.