Integrating Academic Language into Content Methodology: Supporting Math and Science Teacher Candidates to Meet Students’ Language Needs

Abstract

This article describes how a teacher-education program (TEP), whose mission is to improve schooling for linguistically diverse students, develops its’ teacher candidate’s critical dispositions and pedagogy related to academic-language (AL) development and how candidate performance on PACT can help TEPs better assess and improve how AL development can be embedded in content methodology courses. We discuss (a) how TEP worked to embed AL into the program course of study, (b) how teacher education faculty support AL in their content methodology courses, (c) the ways in which teacher candidates demonstrate knowledge of AL in two exemplary PACT Teaching Events, and (d) how TEP used data analysis of PACT for program improvement.

Reference

Freking, F., Park, J., & Francois, A. (2015). Integrating Academic Language into Content Methodology: Supporting Math and Science Teacher Candidates to Meet Students’ Language Needs. The New Educator, 11(1), 60-78.

Journal

New Educator

Analysis

Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?

Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?

Research Approach

Case study
Qualitiative

Geographic Setting

University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Institutional Context

University based

Certification Level

Multiple levels of certification across programs

Programatic Focus

interdisciplinary liteacy

Research Location Context

University

Preservice Participants

Undergraduates (university based program)

Preservice Sample Size

153

Other Participant Data

Teacher Educators

Duration of Data Collection

2 academic semesters

Data Sources

Survey
Syllabi from University courses
Teaching Events

Data Analysis Tools

coding (non-specific)

Researcher Positionality

inside (staying their own students)
Inside (studying their own programs)

Research Questions

How is academic language embedded in the teacher education program?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? No

How does the embedding of academic language (AL) in the teacher education program impact mathematics and science teacher performance on the AL rubrics in PACT?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Combination