MSED Announces New English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education Endorsements
Northwestern University’s Master of Science in Education Program is thrilled to introduce two exciting new endorsements: English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education. We firmly believe that embracing students' language diversity, cultures, and backgrounds is crucial for fostering transformative teaching and learning experiences. With these valuable endorsements, our future educators will be equipped to honor and sustain their students' languages and literacies while effectively addressing their individual needs.
Beginning in Fall 2023, ESL/Bilingual Ed coursework will be seamlessly embedded into our curriculum, and students in the K-12 Teaching concentration may choose to add ESL and/or Bilingual Ed as an additional subsequent endorsement to their Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL). Pending the completion of required coursework, ALL incoming students will be eligible to add an ESL endorsement, and students who are proficient in a language (or languages) other than English will also be eligible for a Bilingual Ed endorsement.
Dr. Fabiola Fadda-Ginski, an adjunct lecturer for MSEd and Director of World Language Programs for Chicago Public Schools, was an integral part of the curriculum development for this endorsement. “As the percentage of school students who are English learners in the United States is currently 10.3%, or 5 million, and is continuing to rise, it is imperative for educators to be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively instruct an increasingly linguistically and culturally diverse student population.” Dr. Fadda-Ginski stated. “The demand for educators who possess such expertise across the country and globally is staggering. Teachers who hold ESL and Bilingual Education endorsements undoubtedly have a marked advantage in the job market when it comes to being hired and retained. That is because employers know that individuals who hold such credentials have the competencies and the disciplinary understandings to successfully teach ALL students and can be a great resource for the entire school staff, as well as for the students’ families and the larger community.” She continued: “I applaud the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern, who to stay true to its vision of developing powerful, innovative educators, is now adding these valuable endorsements to its list of coursework. This is bound to be very impactful for our students as they prepare to positively contribute to social and cultural transformation through their work as educators and advocates for a better, more equitable world.”
The courses in which these requirements are embedded are listed below.
-MSED 402: Social, Cultural, and Linguistic Contexts of Education
-MSED 410: Foundations of Learning in a New Language
-MSED 420: Designing for Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Instruction
-MSED 422: Linguistics Informed Approaches to Literacy
-MSED 432: Assessment of Linguistically Diverse Students
-MSED 475-478: Theory and Practice of Teaching in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts
-MSED 485-488: Student Teaching in Multilingual & Multicultural Contexts