SET FOR SUCCESS

BY DANIELLE HENDRIX

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, English learners enrolled in Florida public elementary and secondary schools increased by nearly 35,000 students from 2010 to 2020. And nationally, the grades with the highest percentage of ELs are in elementary school, peaking in Grade 1.

Early intervention is critical to ELs’ success as they build foundational reading, language, and literacy skills — all of which help them to excel academically throughout their time in school.

But to do this, teachers need access to more evidence-based educational practices — tools that UCF researchers will provide through the new English-Learner Infused Training and Experience (Project ELITE).

The Project ELITE team partners with nearby school districts to provide professional learning and individualized coaching opportunities, helping educators improve school readiness and literacy for ELs in VPK through third grade, and creating partnerships with ELs’ families and communities.

“WE NEED TO SUPPORT EDUCATORS AS THEY’RE WORKING WITH ELS ACADEMICALLY, BUT WE ALSO NEED TO SUPPORT THEM AS THEY ARE WORKING WITH ELS’ PARENTS, FAMILIES AND THE COMMUNITY.”

“We need to support educators as they’re working with ELs academically, but we also need to support them as they are working with ELs’ parents, families and the community,” Assistant Professor Marjorie Ceballos says.

Over the next five years, the team will prepare 220 highly qualified teachers, paraprofessionals and educational leaders to work with ELs and their families in the Central Florida area. Educators will complete a 72-hour ELITE Professional Learning program. The Bilingual Village and Parent Ambassadors programs will foster further opportunities for ELs and their families to practice both their home and second languages in a supportive setting. Additionally, 40 alumni will be trained to continue the pipeline of transitioning resources to their respective school districts with the goal of preparing educators to work with and support English learners for years to come.

“All of these different components are major contributors to increasing ELs’ achievement,” Ceballos says. “Each one helps strengthen those bridges between the school, families and the community.”

RESEARCHERS
Marjorie Ceballos
Joyce Nutta
Florin Mihai
Vassiliki “Vicky” Zygouris-Coe

PARTNERS
UCF College of Arts and Humanities
U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition
Orange County Public Schools, Pinellas County Schools, St. Lucie Public Schools