Employment Requirements for ESL Teachers

The following wording is taken from Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) 2015: JOHNSON CITY SCHOOLS COMPLIES WITH STATE REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS.

THESE GUIDELINES ARE DESCRIBED BELOW: All teachers of any language instruction program for English Language Learners must be fluent and competent in the four domains of language assessed by the English Language Proficiency Assessment: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. If personnel not possessing these skills have been previously hired, the district is required to offer help to build the necessary fluency. A teacher’s fluency in listening and speaking may be documented and evaluated during the interview process by having one person responsible for noting listening mistakes, miscues, grammar and syntax mistakes, and making a judgment as to the level of fluency for both speech and listening. Reading may be evaluated through the reading and responses that show understanding of the application process. Reading proficiency may also be documented through the college transcript issued by an English speaking university. Districts may also use shelf reading comprehension assessments. Writing fluency can be more difficult to ensure. Unless the application requires a writing sample, the district may encourage a 15 to 20-minute writing sample during the teacher interview. Topics should vary from applicant to applicant. The sample should be done onsite so that there is no opportunity for outside editing. The district may also have an assessment designed or contract with an outside agency for this screening. The district should decide if this is to be used with only English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers or with all hires.

Last Updated: October 6, 2020