MIDTESOL Matters Summer 2001

Postcard from…Kansas 

By Cecilia Prieto-Morehouse, Kansas Representative 

As I sit here to write my report, I realize that it cannot convey the organization, quality, or amount of information contained in the ESOL/ BE web site created and maintained by Christopher Renner's office at the Kansas State Department of Education. Here is the website address: http://www.ksde.org/psst/esolcontentpage.htm.

Further developments in Kansas are underway in the Kansas City, Kansas Bilingual Education Career Ladder Program. This program, known as Project AchievEe, aims to recruit language minority students into the teaching field and assist them as they complete their education. The project currently serves ten students and ultimately may include up to 25.

Students are supported throughout their education by means such as preparatory workshops for the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST), a required test for teacher certification in Kansas. The workshops were prepared and run by Tracy Chambers, Instructional Coordinator for the project. Two of the Project AchievEe students have already passed the PPST and are wrapping up coursework at Kansas City Kansas Community College. They will begin study at the University of Kansas in the fall.

The one obstacle that project organizers have encountered is finding participants in the Kansas City area who are willing to finish their academic work at the University of Kansas, the only university in the state with a five-year teacher education program. Additionally, there is some concern that the change in presidents and the corresponding changes in the allocation of federal funds for education may affect the project’s chances of getting its grant renewed. However, Project Director Marleen Elliott is optimistic, saying, “We are on track according to the established timeline in achieving the goals and objectives set forth in our original grant proposal.”  
 
 
 

Project AchievEe

Academic Counseling and Help in the Induction

and Education of Visionary ESL Educators 
 

OVERALL STATUS OF THE PROJECT 

The Kansas City, Kansas Bilingual Education Career Ladder program, Project AchievEe, continues its recruitment and retention efforts, which are focused on attracting language minority students to careers in teaching and then providing educational supports while they prepare to become credentialed teachers. Now, as we complete the second year of a five-year project, we currently have 10 students enrolled in the Project AchievEe program, which is almost half of our training goal of 25 students. Recruitment activities for the current academic year will culminate in May with the selection of new recruits who will start their undergraduate training programs beginning in the fall, 2001. Our greatest recruitment challenge has been identifying students in the Kansas City, Kansas community and paraprofessionals in the Kansas City, Kansas schools who are willing to commit to completing the teacher education program at KU, which is the only institution in the state of Kansas with a five-year teacher education program. 

STUDENT PROGRESS 

Academically, students are achieving at a high level, and overall, grade point averages are consistently 3.0 or above. During the current academic year, two Project AchievEe students, who are enrolled at Kansas City Kansas Community College, passed the PPST and are making significant progress towards meeting their career goals. These students and the Project Mentor, have been planning their transition to the University where they will complete professional coursework, beginning August, 2001. 

COURSE DEVELOPMENT 

A PPST workshop series has been established and is conducted by Traci Chambers, Instructional Coordinator, for all students who are preparing for this exam. Miss Chambers will also contribute greatly to the development of a new course on “transition supports” for language minority students at the community college level. 

CONTINUATION 

May 15^th marks the deadline for our annual performance report that will be submitted to the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, U.S. Department of Education, for the continuation grant award. We are on track according to the established timeline in achieving the goals and objectives set forth in our original grant proposal. However, we are concerned about the priorities in the President’s education plan that could negatively impact our work, particularly the proposal for block granting programs like the Bilingual Education Act to the states.

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