Web-enhanced Curricular Infusion of ESOL Competencies in Initial Teacher Certification Programs

As the cultural and linguistic diversity continues to increase in Florida's K-12 public school population, the demand for teachers trained to address their unique needs becomes paramount. Previously a responsibility of Florida's school districts, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) training has been delegated to colleges of education per state mandate. This mandate requires that graduates of initial teacher certification programs in the state's universities demonstrate competency in all of the 25 Florida Performance Standards for Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages. In order to satisfy this charge, colleges of education in Florida are following a variety of training models: stand-alone courses, curricular infusion, or a combination of the two. A large, metropolitan university in Central Florida has developed an integrated model consisting of two stand-alone courses, field experience integration of the standards, and curricular infusion of ESOL standards via on-lone modules in methods courses. The authors, who teach methods courses in which such infusion has been recently effected, surveyed their students to obtain feedback regarding the modules, the results of which are discussed in this paper.