Washington State University’s Equity for Language Learners-Improving Practices and Acquisition of Culturally Responsive Teaching, or ELL-IMPACT program, is recruiting paraeducators who work with English-language learners to become teachers at a lower cost than traditional degree programs.
The program is funded with a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and consists of evening and summer classes for two years starting in June and finishing April 2021.
Students earn a bachelor’s in elementary education, a residency teaching certificate for kindergarten through eighth grade and a K-12 English Language Learners teaching endorsement. Bilingual applicants can also earn a K-12 bilingual endorsement.
Program officials expect some graduates will be bilingual, but it is not a requirement, and paraeducators can continue their day jobs while taking classes.
Classes are offered at WSU Vancouver and Evergreen Public Schools. In addition to lower costs of classes, scholarships and other funding are available.
The program’s first group was recruited in 2017 and is scheduled to graduate at the end of this summer. One of the goals of the program is to help experienced teacher candidates who can meet the needs of diverse students across the state.
About 8.5 percent of Clark County’s 4,783 teachers identify as people of color, according to data released in March fromby the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Clark County had 407 teachers of color in the 2018-2019 school year, up from 375 the year prior; 4,376 teachers, meanwhile, identified as white.
That number represents a continuation of a slow tick upward in the proportion of teachers of color in local school districts.
In the 2017-2018 school year, 7.9 percent of Clark County’s 4,750 teachers identified as people of color. In the 2012-2013 school year, 7.2 percent of teachers identified as people of color.
The application deadline for the ELL-IMPACT program is May 31. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in any field, a year or more of paraeducator experience and submit a letter of recommendation from a school district administrator.
For more information, contact Gisela Ernst-Slavit at gernst@wsu.edu.
