Bilingual Teacher
Recruitment:
Southeast Asian Career
Ladder
OVERVIEW
Presenters Fran
Collignon, Makna Men, Samboeun Pho
and Maria
Pacheco described their
work in developing
and sustaining the Career Ladder Program, whose aim is to assist Southeast Asian pre-service and in-service teachers
in gaining the necessary credentials to teach English Language Learners in
public schools. Audience members
spoke of their experiences.
ISSUE
Significantly
under-represented in the teaching force, Southeast Asian students make up
roughly 10% of the student population in the Providence school system. The Career Ladder Program
was initiated at The Education Alliance in response to needs identified in a
Southeast Asian Research Project, supported by the OERI-funded Center for
Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence (CREDE). The following questions framed the
research:
·
What factors promote or prevent the achievement of
high standards by Southeast Asian students?
·
Do community-based organizations and schools have a
role to play in addressing this issue?
These questions
led to further
inquiry and a sub-question: What factors prevent Southeast Asians from joining
the teaching force?
APPLICATION
Project
Preparation:
·
close collaboration with in-service teachers revealed
significant barriers to professional development and
advancement
·
The Career Ladder Program received Title VII
funding
The
Career Ladder was designed to:
·
offer case-by-case
assistance to Cambodian, Laotian, Hmong and
Vietnamese pre-service and in-service teachers
·
address barriers identified by
participants
The Career Ladder Program Impact
provides:
· individual
academic counseling
· tutoring
and technology training
· workshops,
classes and study groups
· material resources: tuition, living stipend and book allowance
· job placement assistance
RESULTS
Between 1998-2001
nine Advance
and Impact participants completed the program and have found work teaching
around Rhode Island.
·
5 Hmong
·
2 Lao
·
1 Cambodian
·
1 Vietnamese
Collignon, F.F., Men, M.,
& Tan, S. Finding ways in:
Community-based perspectives on Southeast Asian family involvement with schools
in a New England state. Journal of Education for Students Placed
at Risk, 6
(1 & 2), 27-44.
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