ESL and Bilingual Teachers in Essay

, 1997). Relevant to ESL students and teaming between ESL teachers and mainstream teachers, the St. Paul, Minnesota. school district has replaced assigning ESL students to a full-day ESL track or having an ESL teacher regularly pull them out of class. Instead, mainstream and ESL teachers co-teach in the same classroom. With this approach, the school district has nearly closed the achievement gap between English-language learners and native speakers, based on state test results (Zehr, 2006).

George and Alexander (2003) add to the St. Paul, Minnesota approach by exploring school structure and the way teams are organized. These researchers mention that there's no single acceptable model for organizing teams; they can include small partner (two-teacher) teams, three-teacher teams, four-teacher teams, or grade-wide teams. Schools will have to select a model that best fits with its environment. George and Alexander have also identified characteristics of highly effective teams: student-centered focus; strong commitment to academic achievement; collaborative policies and accountability systems; trong sense of team community; regular communication with parents; proactive approach; and eachers who work professionally and collaboratively.

To effectively teach ESL students, bilingual teachers must be willing to involve parents and to team with mainstream teachers.The benefits are well documented, but bilingual teachers must correctly apply the concepts to achieve the vision

Bibliography

Dickinson, T.S., & Erb, T.O. (1997). We gain more than we give: Teaming in middle schools. Columbus, OH: National Middle School Association.

Epstein, J.L. (1985). Effects of teacher practices of parent involvement on change in student achievement in reading and math. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Social Organization of Schools.

Felner, R.D., Jackson, a.W., Kasak, D., Mulhall, P., Brand, S., & Flowers, N. (1997). The impact of school reform for the middle years: Longitudinal study of a network engaged in Turning Points-based comprehensive school transformation. Phi Delta Kappan, 78(7), 528-532, 541-550.

George, P.S. And Alexander, W.M. (2003). The exemplary middle school (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth Learning

Simich-Dudgeon, C. (1993). Increasing student achievement through teacher knowledge of about parent involvement. In N.F. Chavkin (Ed), Families and schools in a pluralistic society (pp. 189-203). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Zehn, M.A. (2006, December 6). Team-teaching helps close language gap. Education Week. Retrieved from Web site: http://www.barrow.k12.ga.us/esol/Team-Teaching_Helps_Close_Language_Gap.pdf.....