ESOL/Bilingual Program

Program Description

The ESOL and ESOL/Bilingual Endorsements are accredited endorsements for Oregon licensed teachers who seek K-12 teaching positions in bilingual education or ESOL programs (English for Speakers of Other Languages). The ESOL Endorsement Program consists of eight courses. Those who desire a bilingual endorsement in addition to the ESOL Endorsement must document proficiency in the target language (Spanish) by achieving at least an advanced level on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) administered by the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).
Designed for educators with full-time teaching loads, the program offers:

• flexible sequence of courses
• evening courses
• V-TEL courses (distance learning) 
• large selection of summer courses

Program Description— Aligned with the requirements set forth by Oregon Teachers’ Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC, Oregon Administrative Rules 584-038-0085), the ESOL/Bilingual Endorsement Program emphasizes five broad areas of competence. These broad areas reflect the standards established by the National Board for Professional Teaching in the domain of English as a New Language (1996). The English as New Language Standards are subsumed in the five categories of the SOU Program.

1. Language Foundations
2. Cultural Foundations
3. Pedagogy
4. Assessment
5. Professional Leadership

Each category includes a set of competencies that must be met in order for an individual to receive an endorsement. The term competencies is used to define what teachers need to know and be able to do. Working closely with an endorsement advisor, students will plan their programs in light of presently held levels of competency. Characteristic of a standards-based model, students in collaboration with an advisor, will determine the competencies that must be met. Individual programs will be developed as students select from a series of learning opportunities that will enable them to meet the competencies that are required for the endorsement.

The Program Goals Are To:

• Prepare exemplary teachers of students for whom English is a new language.
• Develop and deliver an ESOL/Bilingual Endorsement Program built upon a sound theoretical base and reflective of current research.
• Offer an endorsement program that is comprehensive in scope and characterized by relevance and depth.
• Encourage all teachers to enhance their preparation for effective teaching of diverse students.
• Engage in continual evaluation of program content, structure, and method of delivery.
• Integrate proven practices into the delivery of the program and to promote the development of these practices among the students.
• Maintain high and rigorous standards in all aspects of the program.