Toward Program- Wide Coherence in Preparing Teachers to Teach and Advocate for English Language Learners

Coherent, program-wide preparation of teachers to work with English language learners (ELLs) is a critical area of need. Despite research on diverse second language teaching and learning issues, little research has been reported on teacher education for ELLs (Hollins & Guzman, 2005; Lucas & Grinberg, 2008). Even in preparing teachers for diverse and underserved populations, attention to ELLs has been scant (Zeichner, 2005). This chapter addresses this need, examining how one program sought to prepare all teachers to meet the needs of ELLs through a program-wide approach with conscious attention to content, processes, and context. Drawing on research on teacher education program coherence, we map a framework that guided data analysis in this case study and that serves as a heuristic for other programs to use in developing, documenting, and studying program-wide attention to teaching ELLs.