The trainings teach preschool teachers how to help children learn English and keep their home languages, so they can be more successful in kindergarten and beyond.
New state funds, available through The Bilingual Teacher Professional Development grants, are helping more school districts and county offices of education to increase the number of bilingual teachers in the state.
An Education Trust–West report highlights successful strategies some California districts implemented to improve English learners' performance in math.
The State Board of Education adopted the first new language policy in 20 years — the English Learner Roadmap, an online resource for school districts that will help guide curriculum, instruction and standards for the 1.4 million English learners in the state’s public schools.
As districts expand bilingual programs, they're ramping up training so teachers who speak Spanish can teach Common Core and standards for English learners.
An advocacy group for English learners says the $5 million in new state money to train more bilingual teachers is a "first step," and warns that Proposition 58 has worsened a severe shortage of bilingual teachers.
