ESL-Content Teachers Argumentative Analysis

Suggesting that mainstream content area teachers receive more training and support to provide for their ELL students is not a revolutionary idea. The state of Ohio has already joined with nationwide initiatives to promote the education of mainstream teachers to prepare them for ESL students in their classrooms. Between 2009 and 2012, The ESL- Content Teachers Collaborative was an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) that provided 1.5 million dollars in the form of a grant that facilitated the professional development of ESL instruction. Current teachers from all different districts over the state of Ohio who wished to prepare themselves at a graduate level enrolled in distance-learning classes
Other than seminar initiatives that may or may not be provided to a school district, many teachers will not receive the necessary ESL training once in the classrooms. The National Education Association stated that the U.S. Department of Education reported that professional development seminars that address the needs of LEP students is the course content area teachers are least likely to attend (McKeon, D. 2005, June). At the time that these figures were reported in 2002, the NEA also measured that ELL had dropout rates that were four times greater than native English-speaking students (McKeon, D. 2005, June). Considering the correlation between teacher preparedness and the high dropout rate of ELL students, it is clear to me once again that preparing our teachers to accommodate these unique student needs is to the advantage of both the teachers and to the success of the