The report begins by pointing out the severe shortage of teachers at the present and notes that the numbers of minority teachers, which are generally assumed to be more effective as teachers of minority students. The outlook for the future is even worse with the number of minority teachers expected to continue falling due to the small number of minority students studying to be teachers in university programs. It is apparent that programs for producing effective teachers is of the utmost importance.
The process of identifying competencies in the initial stage of developing bilingual teacher preparation was an important step in designing many state teacher certification programs. However, the emphasis in professional development programs has shifted toward incorporating ways to stimulate teacher learning in order for the teacher to take a more active role in the process (see Gonzalez and Darling-Hammond, 1997). In addition, many programs have requirements that all teachers be prepared to serve the needs of English-language learners. There are also continuing efforts to increase the numbers of minority teachers.
The chapter then examines four programs for the professional development
of teachers of English-language learners. (Click to see summaries
of each program.)
The chapter concludes with a list of research needs and recommendations
to address them.
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