Grant Awards: National Professional Development Program (84.365Z)

Abstract: Project BEACON provides a series of coordinated activities designed to enhance bilingual education. These include customizing undergraduate courses to meet the needs of paraprofessionals seeking certification as bilingual teachers, providing comprehensive mentorship and coaching, and implementing the SIOP model to study its effects on teaching efficacy and student outcomes. The project also focuses on developing collaborative education programs with school districts, aimed at integrating cultural and linguistic diversity into teacher training. Additionally, it establishes robust mentorship initiatives and scalable models to ensure the sustainability and expansion of bilingual education, particularly targeting underserved and non-traditional student populations. 

Abstract: This project aims to enhance the recruitment and retention of multilingual teachers by integrating LISTA, a linguisticjustice apprenticeship, into our established SKILLS program for broad institutional adoption. Project activities include: 

1. Recruiting diverse multilingual undergraduates; 
2. Developing practicum courses and apprenticeships for active multilingual undergraduate participation; 
3. Mentoring for multilingual candidates' career progression; 
4. Creating training guides for IHEs and sharing research findings on the initiative's effectiveness. 

Abstract: DLITE will benefit up to 200 bilingual high school students in five high-need GCPS high schools, 72 bilingual scholarship recipients pursuing a degree in education, 24 pre-service candidates placed in DLI programs for a paid residency, and up to 25 GCPS bilingual paraprofessionals completing certification requirements. The three main components of DLITE include: 

1. A multifaceted approach to a GYO program, including recruitment of bilingual students in grades 11-12 by expanding the potential pipeline of bilingual teachers through recruitment of bilingual GCPS students into work-based learning and dual enrollment experiences in education and expanding the pool of bilingual education majors through recruitment of current college students and GCPS paraprofessionals, while providing financial support;
2. A selective, year-long paid residency for teacher candidates, placed in highpoverty DLI schools; and
3. A consortium of districts participating in an ongoing community of practice, led by the GaDOE, that will serve as a model and dissemination platform to strengthen the bilingual teacher pipeline across the state of Georgia. 

Expected outcomes include: 

1. Increase participation of bilingual students in WBL by 20% over the 2024-25 baseline, 
2. Increase the number of bilingual Teaching as a Profession CTE pathway completers by 20% over the 2024-25 baseline, 
3. At least 80% of bilingual paraprofessionals participating in DLITE will become fully certified teachers in GCPS, 
4. At least 90% of bilingual pre-service teacher candidates will make progress toward becoming fully certified,
5. Collaborate with GaDOE to plan and host an annual Dual Immersion Institute as well as a bilingual teacher job fair each year benefiting districts across Georgia. 

While there are 21 GCPS high schools, DLITE will focus on 5 highneed high schools that enroll 2,200-3,300 students each, with 4/5 enrolling 80%-90% economically disadvantaged students. These schools were selected due to their proximity to DLI programs, mitigating the transportation barrier that often exists preventing economically disadvantaged students from participating in WBL experiences. As of Fall 2024, GCPS has eleven DLI programs serving students in grades K-5, with most serving high percentages of multilingual learners as a delivery model for ESOL services. 

Abstract: Project goals and objectives are: 

1. To increase the enrollment of preservice bilingual teacher candidates across three CU Denver GYO programs by 100%. Objectives: 1.1 Annually, 8 recruitment activities will be conducted in CU Denver’s GYO programs partner districts with a specific focus on prospective students who are bi/multilingual; 1.2 By Year 5, enroll 70 bi/multilingual teacher candidates; (Annual Targets: Yr 1 n=10; Yr 2 n=12; Yr 3-5 n=16.) 1.3 By Year 3, 50% of participants will be progressing toward developing the necessary language skills to teach in and through two languages; 1.4 Annually, 70% of participants will be first gen and/or come from low income backgrounds. 
2. To design and implement GYO pathways leading to Colorado’s Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education Bilingual Education K-12 (CLDE BE) endorsement. Objectives: 2.1 By Year 2, 90% of participants will complete course work toward the CLDE BE endorsement; 60% of participants will graduate with the CLDE BE endorsement; 2.2 90 % of graduates are employed in their first year; 75% of graduates will be placed in schools with a bilingual education program; 2.3 60% of participants in rural GYO will take the additional course for the CLDE BE endorsement; 2.4 85% of Colorado Bilingüe Summer Institute participants will report being highly satisfied with their experience and will report increased competence for teaching bilingually.
3. To increase the quality and number of clinical experiences in bilingual education settings. 3.1 By Year 2, 100% of participants will be placed in bilingual settings (including a DLBE PBS) for clinical field experiences; 3.2 By Year 3, 100% of participants will be placed with a Clinical Mentor Teacher who is or who has taken courses towards the Mentor Teacher Endorsement; 3.3 100% of Clinical Mentor Teachers will have taken courses towards the Mentor Teacher Endorsement; 3.4 90% of participants meet or exceed expectations in internships & demonstrate competencies aligned with Colorado Teacher Quality Standards (CTQS) and CLDE BE standards; 3.5 90% of participants report that their clinical experiences positively influence their preparation to become an effective bilingual teacher. 
4. To retain bilingual candidates through an Identity-Sustaining Community of Practice. Objectives: 4.1 By Year 2, 100% of participants will participate in a Community of Practice (COP); 4.2. 90% of participants will report positively on the impact of their participation in the COP and mentoring sessions on their sense of professional identity development and engagement in a professional community; 4.3 By Year 2, 60% of participants will attend a mentoring session at the Colorado Association for Bilingual Education conference.

Abstract: Project SEMBRAR aims to increase the number of state-level DLBE-certified teachers serving ELs in DLBE settings in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Mexico through mentorship and professional learning in standards-based practices. Project SEMBAR brings together collaborative advocacy agendas from three organizations with a depth of expertise in the field of bilingual education, all committed to “growing our own” Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) pre-service teachers. Project SEMBRAR has three goals: 

1. Teacher Recruitment - Improve DLBE teacher recruitment efforts and pathways for students from firstgeneration and/or low-income backgrounds in participating districts in MA, RI, CT, and NM; 
2. Targeted DLBE Professional Learning - Develop and enhance pathways for DLBE teacher learning through alignment with EMMA standards; 
3. Teacher Collaboration and Retention – build capacity within participating districts to train and retain uniquely qualified DLBE teachers. 

Project SEMBRAR will, with the help of 5 NDLC Faculty IHEs, impact a total of 80 (16 yearly) Mentor Leaders and 400 (80 yearly) Bilingual PST Participants. Upon completion, the total DLBE entities impacted will be 506. 

Abstract: Cal Poly’s Bilingual Responsive Instruction for Language Learners And New Teachers/Educators (BRILLANTE) project is a Grow Your Own Pre-Service Teacher Program that recruits and supports future bilingual/multilingual educators to teach English Learner students on the Central Coast of California. The BRILLANTE project aims to provide essential financial, academic and social support for undergraduate scholars, pre-service teacher residents, and in-service teachers pursuing a Bilingual Authorization in Spanish. Additional emphasis is placed on recruiting and supporting future bilingual/multilingual teachers who come from first-generation and low-income backgrounds. BRILLANTE participants will be trained in research-based culturally responsive pedagogies for teaching Latinx K-12 English Learners with a focus on supporting newcomers and Mixteco speaking students. 

Abstract: Project ABLE is a Grow Your Own (GYO) Pre-Service program at Oregon’s largest Hispanic-Serving Institution, Chemeketa Community College. Building on a decade of services designed specifically for bilingual candidates, the program will expand services to candidates through accessible onramps, with stacked certificates, and Apprenticeship; inclusive proactive advising/pathway navigation; strategic leveraging of financial resources; leveraged partnerships with transfer university partners; improved data system for tracking candidate retention during each stage of preparation through to teacher licensure. By measuring the efficacy of project strategies on persistence of bilingual/multilingual teacher candidates, Project ABLE will be able to answer critical questions regarding the role of community colleges in preparing teacher candidates.  The project will provide early on-ramps and supports enabling a projected 201 bilingual teacher candidates to join the profession. 

Abstract: The overarching purpose of this project is to increase the number of and, support for ESOL teachers, particularly Bi/Multilingual Teacher Candidates (BTCs) in GA. Over the next five years, we plan to enroll, support, and retain a total of 160 BTCs in Kennesaw State University’s (KSU) Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) professional development (PD) programs through three GYO pathways:

1. KSU’s TESOL Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program that leads to initial teaching licensure in P-12 ESOL (N=80), 
2. ESOL Endorsement (N=40), and 
3. TESOL Certificate programs (N=40). 

We will analyze the effectiveness of our PD programs through various formative and summative measures, informed by design-based research (DBR), which permits the iterative process of modifying and continuously improving PD programs based on feedback collected every year.  By the end of the 5-year project, a total of 160 BTCs will be recruited and enrolled in PD programs to be fully licensed, certified, endorsed, or receive credits in TESOL education. 

Abstract: ROPESS builds on two existing GYO programs to build regional pipelines of certified multilingual teachers. UML will support the Southeast Bilingual Regional Hub to develop supportive, responsive individualized pathways towards Bilingual Education Endorsement (BEE) certification for multilingual teachers of record, paraprofessionals, community members, and high school students. Simultaneously, UML, which has existing GYO programs focused on diversifying the teacher pipeline, will replicate components of the Southeast Regional Bilingual Hub to develop a new BEE program to supplement and establish a Merrimack Valley Bilingual Regional Hub. 

Abstract: Fort Lewis College will partner with four school districts educating 12,463 students with an average economically disadvantaged rate of 74.68% – Annette Island School District (Alaska), Durango 9-R School District (Colorado), Ignacio School District (Colorado), Central Consolidated School District (New Mexico) – serving four Tribal Nations – Navajo Nation, Southern Ute Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Nation, Metlakatla Nation – to prepare up to 68 Indigenous and Heritage Community educators enrolled in two project cohorts to fill teacher vacancies in isolated, rural schools and improve the quality of teaching and learning available to underserved Indigenous and Heritage Community students. The BLOOM project design – supported by a strong research base and Evidence of Effectiveness that meets What Works Clearinghouse Strong and Moderate Evidence standards – includes diverse pedagogy, language acquisition, language preservation, cultural alignment and student support services embedded in multi-layered services: Layer 1 – Teacher Accreditation; Layer 2 – Language Acquisition and Preservation; Layer 3 – Cultural Alignment and Layer 4 – Student Supports. Ongoing evaluation of the five year project by an experienced external evaluator will generate the feedback, qualitative data and quantitative data needed to promote continuous project improvement and maximize the positive impact of BLOOM. 

Abstract: There are three grow-your-own preservice teacher preparation pathways as part of CAMINOS. As a result of this program, at least 24 paraeducators will graduate from WSU with a BA in Elementary Education, teaching certificate, and BE/EL/SE-BE endorsements. At least 24 TB students will complete a two-year teaching internship and the coursework required to enter teacher preparation successfully. At least 20 ML preservice teachers will complete coursework for a BE endorsement. We will build on the strengths of grow-your-own (Gist et al., 2019) and effective teacher preparation principles, including career-connected service learning and culturally responsive pedagogy (Cochran-Smith et al., 2015; Hildenbrand & Schultz, 2015). We will provide candidates with comprehensive education to support biliteracy and academic achievement, including for students with special needs. Rigorous coursework, supportive mentor teachers, on-the-job and collaborative learning, academic counseling, ongoing Advisory Board input, and data collection/analysis will be key project components guiding decisions. Our team has the expertise to develop and generate evidence of validity and reliability for a teacher readiness survey aligned with the National Dual Language Education Teacher Preparation Standards (Guerrero & Lachance 2018), an evaluation tool for nationwide use. 

Abstract: The project will address the absolute priority of this solicitation through four program components: 

1. Tuition assistance for MSCS bilingual mentors to earn ESL PreK-12 teacher licensure at University of Memphis, 
2. Tuition, mentoring and other support for bilingual graduating high school students to earn ESL PreK-12 teacher licensure at University of Memphis, 
3. Tuition assistance for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in ESL pre-licensure programs, and 
4. Tuition assistance for mainstream classroom teachers seeking add-on endorsement in ESL. 

We will also work with the UOM Media Room office to disseminate information about the project and the advantages of bilingualism/multilingualism. A rigorous program of assessment and evaluation will be conducted by the Center for Research in Educational Policy to gage the effectiveness of the program design, delivery, and content as well as the ability of the program to produce highly qualified ESL teachers and to enhance the skills of preservice and in-service content teachers resulting in gains in student achievement over both the short and long term. 

Abstract: The Alder Bilingual/Multilingual Educator Project (Alder B-MEP) combines three innovative grow-your-own educator pathways to increase the number of highly-prepared bilingual and multilingual teachers. The Pre-Residency Pathway removes barriers to entry including financial, academic and logistical obstacles; the Bilingual Authorization Pathway provides immersive training in dual language classrooms; and the ELA1 Integration Pathway embeds best practices for English learners across K-12 settings. These pathways create a holistic, adaptable and highly replicable approach to teacher preparation as they are implemented across LEAs of varying size, demographics and geographical regions. The project ensures that teacher residents are equipped with the skills and knowledge to effectively serve language and academic content needs of students identified as English Learners. 

View the complete chart of recommended funding for 2022 Grantees

View the complete list of summary abstracts for 2022 Grantees

View the complete chart of recommended funding for 2021 Grantees

View the complete list of summary abstracts for 2021 Grantees