Bilingual Authorization Program for MA/Credential Candidates
The Bilingual Authorization program prepares MA/Credential candidates in either the Multiple Subject or Single Subject Credential program to add a Bilingual Authorization in Spanish. UCSC MA/Credential candidates for the Bilingual Authorization earn their preliminary teacher credential simultaneously with the Enlgish Learner Authorization. The Bilinguanl Authorization program prepares qualified candidates to teach in Spanish/English bilingual settings. Through a three-quarter sequence of bilingual coursework and bilingual field study practicum, candidates develop and demonstrate the knowledge, skills
Bilingual Authorization candidates enroll in additional UCSC coursework, EDUC 212A, B, and C: Bilingualism and Biliteracy, a series of three two-credit courses, offered in the Fall, Winter and Spring Quarters.
Applicants seeking Bilingual Authorization must also submit: a one to three-page essay in Spanish.
One to three-page essay in Spanish
Bilingual Program applicants will be required to submit a one to three-page essay in Spanish with their application to the MA/Credential Program. The essay should address one of the following prompts:
Describa elcontexto enque usted aprendió el español.- Describa su historia personal y cultural con las comunidades hispanohablantes.
- Describa sus experiencias con la educación bilingüe.
Bilingual Authorization – Philosophical, Theoretical and Research Foundations
With the passage of Proposition 58 in 2016, which repealed bilingual education restrictions enacted by Proposition 227 in 1998, and the adoption of the English Learner Roadmap by the California State Board of Education in July, 2017, it is vital to prepare teacher candidates for teaching in a multicultural/multilingual setting. The bilingual authorization program at UC Santa Cruz is designed to prepare bilingual teachers to meet the diverse linguistic and sociocultural needs of the schools and communities we serve and to prepare our candidates for a multicultural and multilingual world.
In order to provide PK-12 Spanish speakers access to challenging curriculum and core standards, bilingual teacher candidates learn to teach in two languages (Spanish and English) utilizing culturally relevant pedagogy. Through bilingual program coursework and the student teaching practicum, candidates reinforce competence in conversational and academic language in Spanish and develop a deeper understanding of the sociocultural values within the Latino community. Bilingual candidates also become advocates for their students, learning to examine core curriculum and materials for bias and supplementing materials to make them more meaningful to their students. Candidates develop a variety of instructional strategies to address the needs of learners from linguistically and socioculturally different backgrounds. Graduates of our program are equipped with the biliteracy, cross-cultural and pedagogical skills to support English learner success in bilingual school settings throughout California.
Philosophical Foundation
Our program’s approach to the bilingual education authorization (Spanish) is the exploration of three of the most common programs offered in our region: (a) traditional elementary bilingual education, (b) K-12 dual language immersion, and (c) secondary native language content instruction. First, our candidates learn the background and purpose of an elementary level, late-exit bilingual education program. Our candidates understand that becoming literate takes considerable time and effort. Similarly, children learning a second language must make great cognitive and emotional investments if they are to succeed. Yet, it is these two challenging acts of the human intellect, literacy in the native language and learning a second language, that form the axles on which the wheels of “traditional” bilingual education tum. The twin goals of literacy in the native language while mastering a second language require high quality instruction. Our candidates learn that if bilingual education proceeds as planned, students enter late elementary school with sound content area knowledge, grade-level literacy skills in their native language, oral proficiency (and often strong literacy skills) in English, and pride in their cultural and linguistic heritage. They also come to share the view that bilingual education, when fully implemented, develops strong literacy skills in the native language, the linchpin of bilingual education. Without a strong foundation in literacy and academic development in the native language, the transition to English may result in low literacy and cognitive skills in two languages.
While we make certain that our candidates learn the important foundations of bilingual education, we devote great energy helping them see the advantages of two-way immersion programs (dual language programs, or DLPs), which, unlike traditional bilingual education, are focused on life-long bilingualism. Our candidates are introduced to the work of scholars and researchers such as Lindholm-Leary and Collier, who have demonstrated the educational power of DLPs. In addition to learning two languages, DLP program offer the potential for cultural learning from other students, which is absolutely essential for biliteracy and biculturalism. The overwhelming emphasis on DLPs in our program is that learning being bilingual means that one can communicate with many more people.
One of our long-standing partner schools began a dual language program in 1981, so we have a local resource, where many of our faculty have been active in curriculum development and professional learning, to draw from as we work with our candidates. Ultimately, candidates who complete the program are overwhelmingly attracted to teaching in comprehensive DLPS instead of traditional bilingual programs.
Finally, our single subject candidates are inculcated into the importance of native language instruction in the content areas for newcomer students. Building on the work of Bernard Mohan and scholars in the development of academic language such as Aida Walqui, Mary Schleppegrel, they learn that expert teachers can help immigrant secondary students learn content and language at the same time, but that support in the native language is crucial for the development of both.
Theoretical Foundations
When considering the important theoretical foundations of our program, our candidates learn the theoretical and policy contributions of well-known scholars such Jim Cummins, Stephen Krashen, Ellen Bialystok, and Kenji Hakuta, as well as the more recent work of scholars such as Ofelia García (translanguaging), Aida Walqui and George Bunch (scaffolding academic success), Amanda Kibler (literacy development), and Bonny Norton (linguistic identity). We especially rely on our own faculty’s work to develop our candidate’s commitments to high quality language instruction in two languages. Examples include:
Moschkovich, J. (2002). A situated and sociocultural perspective on bilingual mathematics learners. Mathematical thinking and learning, 4(2-3), 189-212.
Téllez, K. & Varghese, M. (2013). Teachers as intellectuals and advocates: Professional development for bilingual education teachers. Theory Into Practice, 52, 128-135.
Bunch, G. C. (2013). Pedagogical language knowledge: Preparing mainstream teachers for English learners in the new standards era. Review of Research in Education, 37(1), 298-341.
Research Base of Bilingual Authorization
Research has shown that student achievement is higher when teachers, schools and curriculum are inclusive of students’ home languages and cultures and teach in ways that are culturally responsive. For example, Thomas and Collier (1999), in a large U.S. study of “School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students,” identified three “key predictors of academic success—1-English language and primary language support through subject areas; 2- current approaches to teaching in two languages, and a 3- social-cultural climate in the school that is inclusive of English learners, their language and cultural background.
Research in literacy also supports the role bilingual instruction can play in the academic achievement of English Learners. The findings from the 2006 Report of the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth (2006) state that “Language minority students who are literate in their first language are likely to be advantaged in the acquisition of English literacy. This finding is supported by studies of cross-linguistic relationships as well as by evaluation studies that demonstrate that language minority students instructed in both their native language and English perform on average better on English reading measures than language minority students instructed only in English” (p. 3).
Bilingual Authorization Program Design
The bilingual authorization at UCSC offers a series of three courses which meet the Bilingual Education and Bilingualism portion of the authorization. Candidates meet the other two criteria via CSET. However, our courses integrate the essential topics necessary for understanding the geographic, historical, sociopolitical, and sociocultural contexts of bilingual education, as well as inviting candidates to read scholarly papers in Spanish to advance their academic literacy skills.
During the first summer in our 2042 Teacher Credential Program, all students enroll in EDUC 207: Social Foundations in Education where they learn to examine their own mainstream cultural norms for bias and consider how their norms and experience may come into conflict with the cultural norms and experiences of students from linguistically and culturally diverse settings. Addressing issues of equity and developing strategies to effectively teach English learners is a part of all theory and methods courses in the 2042 program at UCSC, but a particular focus of Bilingual Program coursework in EDUC 212 A, B, and C: Bilingualism and Biliteracy.
For example, in EDUC 212A: Bilingualism and Biliteracy: Theoretical, Political and Historical Context of Bilingual Education, candidates trace the history of bilingual education in the United States and review program options for English learners in Educating English Learners, Language Diversity in the Classroom in which Crawford (2004) states “bilingual approaches...that stress native-language development and a gradual transition to English have...proven superior in stimulating long-term achievement” (p. 29).
In EDUC 212B: Bilingualism and Biliteracy: Language, Literacy and Content Instruction, multiple subjects candidates read La enseñanza de la lectura y la escritura en español y en inglés: en clases bilingües y de doble inmersión and single subjects, Academic Language for ELLs and Struggling Readers, in which Freeman and Freeman (2009), provide a foundation for literacy instruction and academic success for English learners.
In EDUC 212C: Bilingualism and Biliteracy: Community and School Partnerships, candidates read, School, family and community partnerships: Caring for the children we share, Epstein (2002) and Transformative parent involvement. The power of parents - a critical perspective of bicultural parent involvement in public schools, Olivos (2006), in which candidates explore exemplary practices and models in working with bilingual-bicultural families in the community.
For example, in EDUC 212C: Bilingualism and Biliteracy: Community and School Partnerships, candidates read, Bridging Cultures, in which Trumbull et. al. (2001), discuss how cultural norms can come into conflict in the classroom, for example, the writers state that “Although ‘cooperative learning’ has been widely promoted… the norm of cooperation has clearly not overridden the norm of competition. The conflict between the two norms is seen most clearly in settings such as Southern California, where immigrant Latinos are introduced to U.S. schooling… It is difficult for educators used to U.S. ‘mainstream’ norms to comprehend how drastic a shift this represents for students from a collectivistic culture.” (p. 13)
