Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Policy And Practice Brief 8: Teacher Training And Endorsement Requirements To Teach English Learners In Virginia, Virginia R. Massaro, Virginia Palencia, Merc Multilingual Education Research And Evaluation Team

MERC Publications

There is a growing need to ensure Virginia teachers have a grounding in effective practice for EL education. Teacher preparation programs in Virginia require preservice educators in mainstream classrooms to be trained in English Learner (EL) teaching methods, but how preparation programs meet this requirement varies. For educators wishing to be endorsed as English as a Second Language teachers, requirements have recently been reduced in scope. To supplement the training and qualifications required to receive licensure, professional development for teaching multilingual students should be commonplace.