NJ Cultural Competency and English Language Learners Institute and Mentoring Program
The New Jersey Cultural Competency and English Language Learners Institute and Mentoring Program uses an evidence-based approach to transform teachers' thinking and practices to support culturally and linguistically diverse students across pre-K to 12th grade classrooms. The Institute plants seeds for strategies that allow educators to connect with diverse students who are learning English as a second language by creating culturally responsive learning environments.
More than 300 educators have completed the program.
Established in 2007, the Institute began targeting early childhood (pre-K to third grade) before expanding to all K-12 grades in 2016. Besides training lead and assistant teachers, the Institute has created learning programs for school leaders such as superintendents, principals, supervisors, coaches and directors. The Institute encourages embedding its approach in every content area including math, science, music and art.
The program provides three days of intensive training by experts in first and second language acquisition, cultural competency and English Language Learners (ELL) followed by a nine-month mentoring program. The training infuses content, theory, practice, and simulations coupled with mentoring and coaching — the perfect formula for the achievement of ideal classroom settings for diverse students and their families. The 21 hours of development around culturally sensitive practices includes training, strategies, peer learning, discussions and small coaching groups, culminating with each participant teaching a lesson. The program is offered in summer, fall and spring, based on a district’s preference.
The Institute focuses its training in three domains, with educators encouraged to use creativity as they implement each step:
- Classroom design — The aim is to create a culturally inclusive learning environment with visual cues such as flags, globes, artwork, books and more, allowing students to see themselves in the classroom. Each classroom receives a tool box filled with materials based on the educator’s wish list. Other items include ethnic music, videos, multicultural instruments, Mayan symbols to help teach algebra, even wigs from around the world. This first level of change is easiest to achieve and can be implemented quickly.
- Teacher disposition — With an emphasis on empathy, teachers become more conscious of how they talk and act in the classroom. For example, a teacher may allow students to address them with a prefix of Mr. or Ms. plus a first name that may be easier to pronounce for nonnative speakers or because this approach aligns with the customs of the students. The goal is to be aware of who is in the room and lift students’ self-esteem through social and emotional learning, so children see themselves not only in the physical space of the classroom but in the instruction itself. This level involves shifting mindsets, which can be more challenging.
- Instructional practices — The goal here is to reinforce a teacher’s words with gestures, visuals, music, rhymes and poems, while also slowing down to check for understanding among students. This domain focuses on an approach of scaffolding students to learn English instead of a sink-or-swim, English-only environment.
After the three days of training, each participant works for nine months with a mentor who will actively support the infusion of culture and ELL theory practices into the classroom. Mentors include certified teachers who were principals or directors, as well as professional coaches in the education space. Mentors receive extensive professional development to ensure they know which intervention with the mentoring and coaching tools will yield the best results.
Success is tracked through pre-assessment and then three post-assessments to measure successful transformation of theory to practice. Each classroom is evaluated using a five-point scale with 26 categories that measure the teacher's transformation in thinking and implementation of culturally responsive best practices. Teachers’ disposition for change is measured through a tool called the Stage of Change Scaledeveloped by the Children’s Institute in Rochester, New York.
Because of its longer focus — many other offerings are merely a one-day workshop — and mentoring component, the Institute’s program has become a model for other trainers working in this space.