Survey Shows Few Illinois Pre-K Teachers Have Bilingual or ESL Credentials
Blog Post
Oct. 4, 2012
As few as six percent of Illinois pre-K teachers have credentials that qualify them to teach English language learners, according to a new survey from the Latino Policy Forum. As Early Ed Watch has reported extensively, Illinois plans for all pre-K teachers who instruct groups of English language learners (ELLs) to have such credentials by 2014; these credentials are already required for K-12 teachers who instruct large numbers of ELL students.
The Latino Policy Forum surveyed 307 administrators representing 354 state-funded pre-K programs, which serve 64,482 children. The sample was not representative of all programs in Illinois: Respondents were disproportionately from Cook County, the area that includes Chicago and its suburbs and has a higher immigrant population than most other regions of Illinois.
Still, the results paint a useful portrait. While six percent of teacher respondents overall had bilingual/ESL credentials, programs in communities with a high concentration of Latino residents do have a slightly higher proportion of teachers with the credentials — nine percent.
The survey shines a light on potential problems caused by the classroom structure of many pre-K programs, in which each fully certified teacher is supported in the classroom by multiple teachers’ aides. The ratio of young ELL students to teachers with bilingual training was 35:1 – not too different from the overall ratio of students-to-certified teachers of 30:1 among respondents. In areas with a high concentration of Latino residents, the ratio of young ELL students to credentialed bilingual/ESL teachers was 50:1.
Teachers’ aides and certified teachers without a bilingual/ESL credential aren’t wholly incapable of teaching ELL students, but this extremely high ratio between students and bilingual-certified teachers suggests the state could make a big impact if it were to implement professional development programs and workshops in areas with a high concentration of ELL students.
As for what’s keeping Illinois pre-K teachers from gaining the credentials, the most commonly cited barriers were a lack of time and the cost of the degree, which requires 18 semester hours and is usually completed in 5 courses. Though costs for the credentials vary, one Chicago-area teacher interviewed by Early Ed Watch last spring estimated she would spend around $1,600 for her degree, which she was paying for on a sliding scale.
Source: Latino Policy Forum
Though Illinois can’t create more hours in a teacher’s day, increasing and sustaining financial support—which it has done on a modest scale through the Gateways to Opportunity scholarship program—will be crucial in the coming years if the state wants to fulfill its goal of many more teachers earning this additional certification.
For more on pre-K for ELL students in Illinois, read our brief, Starting Early With English Language Learners: First Lessons from Illinois.