CHAPTER 8: Bridging Barriers between Higher Education and K–12 Settings: A Collaborative Professional Development Model for Improving Secondary English Learner Instruction

In this chapter we describe a collaboration model between higher education and local urban school districts. This model developed from a grantsupported research project, Teaching English Learners Project (Project), which sought to better prepare prospective teachers to meet the needs of English learners in secondary content classrooms. What teacher candidates learn about instructing English learners is tied to the understanding of faculty who design and implement teacher preparation (Richardson & Placier, 2001). Therefore, the Project focused on professional development (PD) with faculty in a secondary teacher credential program at a large, urban state university. This Project was unique in that from conception through implementation its ideological foundation and modeled applications were grounded in genuine and ongoing collaboration between faculty (full- and part-time; representing all discipline departments—math, social studies, art; and five academic colleges across the university) and district teachers and administrators. The practical application of theoretical principles changes rapidly, and K–12 schools and teachers must construct new pedagogical approaches related to English learners proactively, often ahead of published recommendations. Alone, theoretical knowledge of issues related to the instruction of English learners is insufficient. Faculty need ongoing PD and collaboration with those in K–12 settings in order to develop new knowledge and skills (Morris & Hiebert, 2011).