The George Washington University Bilingual Special Education Program Learning through Interdisciplinary Frameworks for T

1. The George Washington UniversityBilingual Special Education ProgramLearning through Interdisciplinary Frameworks for Teachers (LIFT) Amy Mazur, Ed.D., Principal Investigator. Contact info: amazur@gwu.edu; 202-994-1511

2. History and background • Offers graduate teacher preparation at the certificate, M.A., Ed.S., and Ed.D. levels • NCATE recognition in ESOL, special education, and bilingual special education • Established in the 1980s in response to identified school system and national needs • One of only seven bilingual special education programs in the U.S.

3. History and background (cont’d) • Currently has over 167 enrolled students, including both grant-funded and paying students • Recipient of numerous U.S. Department of Education grants (six professional development grants at present) • Established an online-learning program serving national and international students • Impetus for the LIFT project

4. Demographics – America’s school-aged children • There are currently 74,548,215 children living in U.S. • 951,329 are Native American/Alaskan Native • 2,491,422 identify 2 or more races

5. Demographics – America’s school-aged children (cont’d) • 3,480,257 are Asian/Pacific Islander • 11,280,366 are Black • 16,750,075 are Hispanic • 41,225,410 are White Children’s Defense Fund, 2010

6. Demographics – child poverty in the United States • 15.5 million, or 1 in every 5 in America, lived in poverty in 2009 – this is an increase of nearly 4 million since 2000 • Almost half of all poor children (6.9 million) lived in extreme poverty (less than half the poverty rate) Children’s Defense Fund, 2010

7. LIFT project goals • Infuse a cross-disciplinary set of competencies into an existing, nationally recognized teacher preparation program • Institutionalize improvements within the program and share knowledge gained throughout the University • Develop a cross-disciplinary framework to ensure further collaboration

8. LIFT project goals (cont’d) • Disseminate ideas and knowledge gained from this work to a national audience in order to facilitate similar processes at other universities • Provide technical assistance to other universities seeking to adopt a similar focus

9. Key stakeholders/advisors • University experts in ESOL, sociology, public health, medicine, nursing, and related fields • Experts from peer universities in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs • Collaborators from advocacy, policy and research organizations (e.g., National Association of School Psychologists, School Social Work Association, etc.)

10. Activities to date • Collaboration with University ACCESS Institute for ELL Students’ Success • Development of survey for current and prospective students regarding professional knowledge • Communication with advisory board, stakeholders, and panels of experts

11. Activities to date (cont’d) • Needs assessment discussions with panel of experts in teacher preparation and English learners • Initial meetings and conference calls with advisory panel scheduled for summer and fall • Meetings with evaluator and consultation on research design

12. Upcoming/pending activities • Development and deployment of survey • Continued needs assessment activities • Modification of objectives, competencies and activities in core courses • Development of project website and social networking forum

13. Reference: Children’s Defense Fund. (2010). State of the Children Report. http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/state-of-americas-children.pdf.

14. Questions or Comments