Colleges focus on bilingual teachers Michelle Melendez
FORT WORTH - Texas Wesleyan and Southern Methodist universities are offering bilingual education scholarships in an attempt to address a statewide shortage of bilingual elementary teachers. "Our hope is that between the two of us, we will be able to reach a lot of teachers," SMU program director William Pulte said. SMU received a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Education Department that will pay for 375 scholarships over five years. The scholarships cover the $9,240 in tuition costs for the 12 courses needed for a master's in bilingual education, and $3,080 in tuition costs for the four courses needed for a bilingual teaching certificate, or endorsement, as it is called. Texas Wesleyan has $1.4 million in Education Department scholarships for the five-year period. The money will pay tuition for about 300 teachers to obtain their endorsements or master's degrees, director Carlos Martinez said. The scholarship programs began last year but have had fewer applicants than expected, Pulte said. Texas Wesleyan and SMU coordinate classes to make the required courses more convenient for working teachers, who come from Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Dallas and other parts of the Metroplex, Pulte said. Texas has a shortage of bilingual teachers, lacking about 7,000 statewide, Pulte said. "We have 6,000 bilingual teachers in place - that is half of what we need. So students are going without and are in ESL classes," which are taught in English as opposed to Spanish, he said. Wesleyan grants about 30 bilingual certificates and master's degrees in bilingual education per year. Most graduates work for the Fort Worth school district, which promotes the program, said Carlos Martinez, director of bilingual programs at Texas Wesleyan. SMU graduates about 20 master bilingual teachers per year, and 20 certified bilingual teachers, Dean Jasper Neel said. Most of them work in the Dallas school district. Applicants for the programs must be proficient in Spanish. To obtain the bilingual education certificate, they must already have a regular teaching certificate. The master's programs in bilingual education are intended for teachers who already have a bilingual certificate, but who want to become masters in the field, Pulte said. For more information, contact Pulte at (214) 768-2724 or Carlos Martinez at (817) 531-4959. |