Quality Teaching for English Learners

Director: Aida Walqui
Contact:

Steven Weiss <
415.615.3170
sweiss2@wested.org

Web Site:http://www.WestEd.org/qtel

The nation is facing a heightened urgency to address the disparities in the academic achievement of more than 3.4 million English learners. Federal, state, and local priorities emphasize, now more than ever, the need to accelerate the linguistic and academic development of English learners in our schools. The critical and corresponding need to improve teacher education, from pre-service to induction, and to ongoing professional development, is the central mission of the Teacher Quality Initiative at WestEd.

Our vision is to improve the education of adolescent English learners, both immigrant and U.S.-born. Our current emphasis is the design of tools and processes for the professional growth of secondary teachers who work with English learners.

Regional Educational Labratory West's (REL West's) Teacher Quality Initiative gives teachers the tools they need in this ever-shifting education environment. Our tools for teacher improvement include:

Designing modules, tools, and processes for the development of teacher expertise from pre-service education through induction, on-going professional growth, accomplished teaching, and teacher leadership. These modules focus on quality teaching with English learners at the secondary level.
Promoting a coordinated system for supporting the development of teacher expertise along the professional continuum.
Conducting and disseminating research about quality teacher professional development, with an emphasis on work with English learners in high-priority schools.

The key components of our tools and processes include:

Reflection: Activities that invite teachers to deliberately consider past situations to learn for the future (recollective reflection), plan how to address a specific situation (anticipatory reflection), or to "think on their feet" as they engage in action (interactive reflection).

Exemplars: Videos, vignettes, or cases that illustrate instances of accomplished teaching, controversial moments in teaching, "aha" moments, or situations that present roadblocks for the teacher or student understanding.

Elaborations: Tasks that invite participants to explore professional literature to draw conclusions for their own practice, to solve problems, or to propose alternatives to specific situations.

Roadmaps: Sequences from the modules that guide teacher educators and professional developers in using selected activities and tasks based on the specific needs of the teachers.

WestEd Staff:
Echo Chen, Administrative Assistant
Donna Gaarder, Research Associate
Leslie Hamburger, Associate Director
Alex Insaurralde, Research Associate
Nanette Koelsch, Senior Research Associate
Mary Schmida, Senior Research Associate
Aida Walqui, Director, Teacher Professional Development Program
Steven Weiss, Senior Research Associate