Teaching English Learners Certificate
Program Website: https://www.towson.edu/coe/departments/elementary/grad/english-learners-certificate/
Program Director: Dr. Steve Mogge
Phone: 410-704-5771
Email: smogge@towson.edu
This program prepares current and prospective teachers to learn about and implement instructional strategies to help multilingual students succeed academically. The program provides four courses, which also help prepare teachers for the Praxis II ESOL examination, which in Maryland can lead to an ESOL endorsement. Students can take the sequence of courses leading to the graduate certificate independently. Students in the M.Ed. Reading Education program and those in other graduate programs can add the Teaching English Learners Graduate Certificate Program, by taking three PBC-TELN (TELGC) courses (REED 650, REED 651 and REED 652) and one other course (M.Ed. Reading Education students typically take REED 665), to earn the graduate certificate. Students can complete the program before applying to other Master’s programs, or they could simply complete this program to gain the background knowledge needed to work with English learners and their families using the WIDA standards.
Admission Requirements
Application deadlines and a full listing of materials required for admission can be found on the website.
This program will serve current educators who want to develop their ability to work effectively with English learners and their families. It will enable teachers that have either recently graduated or have been in the field for a while to learn about and implement instructional strategies to help ESOL students succeed academically.
Certificate Requirements
The program consists of the following four courses (12 units):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| REED 650 | SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND CURRICULAR CONTEXTS FOR SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING | 3 |
| REED 651 | INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT FOR SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS | 3 |
| REED 652 | INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS FOR TEACHERS OF LANGUAGE AND LITERACY | 3 |
| REED 665 | LITERACY IN THE CONTENT AREAS PREK-12 | 3 |
| Total Units | 12 | |
These courses will prepare teachers for the licensure examination, which leads to ESOL licensure in Maryland. In addition, coursework from this program currently exists in the Graduate Reading Program and can be applied to the M.Ed. in Reading Education.
Students will learn about and be able to apply the WIDA standards:
- English Language Development Standard 1 - English language learners communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting.
- English Language Development Standard 2 - English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
- English Language Development Standard 3 - English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.
- English Language Development Standard 4 - English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.
- English Language Development Standard 5 - English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies.