This position paper observes the impact of "Proposition 227", California's "English for the Children" initiative, on the professional development of teachers of English Learners. It draws on information I obtained while working as an evaluator of the California Teacher Institutes (CTIs), a network of institutes aimed to enhance…

In this article, the author discusses issues that have seemed most fundamental--yet perplexing because they are not well or widely understood--for the students who usually take his masters-level course called Second-Language Assessment. These master's students are experienced teachers, mostly of English, but also of other languages such as French…

Lorenza Lara, Secondary Literacy Coordinator for the Denver (CO) Public Schools, specializes in secondary English Learner (EL) education. According to Lorenza, EL research has shown that educators often confuse youths' regular development in a second language with literacy difficulties. This research also has demonstrated the individuality of…

Elizabeth G. Sturtevant, a professor of education at George Mason University, holds a 33-year record of college-level teaching, scholarship, and service that centers on adolescent literacy. Her research helps clarify the pressures that affect teachers' literacy instruction, the role of secondary school literacy coaches, and adolescent…

Describes the origin and rationale of the California Foreign Language Project, a professional development project designed to improve and expand foreign language teaching in California while promoting access and equity within educational institutions for every student. (Author/VWL)

Offers seven steps practicing English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers can take to create a strong professional identity: become an articulate ESL spokesperson, collaborate with a mainstream teacher or content-area teacher, be a learner as well as a teacher, take a pro-active stance on ESL issues, become an active member of your state TESL…

Comments on issues related to the collection of work samples to accompany language profiles written for language education in Australia. Suggests that the developers of the ACT work samples have produced an important collection of materials that will work best with a series of guided professional development activities where teachers come together…

An English-as-a-Second-Language teacher makes a case for do-it-yourself professional development. (Author/VWL)

Proposes ten principles for an extensive reading approach to teaching reading. The principles deal with the nature of extensive reading and the conditions and methodology necessary for its success. Encourages teachers to use the principles as a tool for examining their beliefs about reading in general and extensive reading in particular, as well…

Responds to an article that proposes 10 principles for teaching extensive second language reading and proposes its own principles. (Author/VWL)

Reports one individual's experience of being both a language learner and a language teacher and argues that these are very different worlds that do not necessarily meet. Examines a number of related studies, in which teachers have chosen to learn a language for purposes of personal professional development, and briefly checks the writer's own…

In this interview, Julian Edge talks to the interviewer about choices of language use available in professional development groups and in master's programs. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the language teaching situation in Australia and the sense of professional distance between English-as-a-Second-Language teachers and foreign language teachers, which is unproductive for the teaching of literacy. Suggests that if teachers of English and teachers of foreign languages can be encouraged to work together, the best option…

Discusses Florida's requirement that staff development be provided to teachers for teaching English-as-a-second-Language students. Colleges of education in Florida crated various professional development models. One of these models is described. (Author/VWL)

In response to an article that proposes principles for teaching extensive reading, this article suggests that those principles rely heavily on learners being responsible for their own learning, a concept that is put forth in U.S. educational contexts. Discusses why these principles would need to be altered for use in an Asian context. (Author/VWL)