A number of states are looking at how to ensure that mainstream teachers who work with English-language learners receive training in how to teach them. Florida requires some of the most extensive English-as-a-second-language training of any state for English-language arts and reading teachers who have ELLs in their classrooms. Some educators think Florida is too demanding in its requirements of reading teachers and are pushing for passage of a bill in the state’s legislature to reduce the number of hours required. Others think that the quality of education for ELLs would suffer if the requirements were softened. See “Florida Bill Would Ease ESL-Training Mandate,” which was published online at edweek.org on April 4.
For more on this on-going debate, see “Disagreement Over Florida’s Requirements for Teachers of ELLs.”