LYNN — Lynn Public Schools has been awarded a $150,000 state grant that is aimed at increasing the district’s number of bilingual educators.
Administrative officials applied for the grant in November to supplement the district’s efforts to implement its Dual Language Program at Harrington Elementary School, where instruction will be split between English and Spanish.
“Right now, we do not have a large bilingual staff,” said Rania Caldwell, director of the district’s English Learner Education (ELE) department.
The additional funds will enable the district to create and cultivate its own bilingual education hub, which school administrators hope will eventually become a model that can be replicated in other school districts.
“Being a hub is making sure we’re not only developing our own educators, but partnering with other districts who are developing their own bilingual programs, like Salem, to increase the number of bilingual educators in the state,” Caldwell said.
The optional program, which has already been funded with a $300,000 state grant the district split with Salem Public Schools, is slated to begin at the kindergarten level next year.
To that end, the district will work to support its own potential bilingual educators and those from neighboring communities with professional development and a pathway to bilingual certification through a partnership with Boston College. Teachers will also be recruited to receive the endorsement, according to Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler.
Building education hubs is the focus of the Gateway City Education Grant for Bilingual Education Programs, which is part of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE’s) GLOBE project. The Grants for Leading Organizations for Bilingual Education initiative was launched last month as a way to improve and diversify the state’s bilingual educator pipeline.
According to DESE, school districts have been given flexibility to develop different programs, such as Lynn’s dual language program, to better meet the needs of their English Language Learners (ELLs). Those programs are meant to comply with the Language Opportunity for Our Kids (LOOK) Act, which became law in 2017.
But the barrier to implementing those bilingual education programs has been the lack of educator preparation programs offered in the state, which has resulted in a lack of qualified bilingual educators. The GLOBE initiative was created to combat that bilingual teacher shortage, according to DESE.
In Lynn, Caldwell said the grant will support the district’s professional development for its Dual Language Program. Two dual-language certified teachers are needed for two kindergarten classrooms next year, and an additional two teachers will be needed each year as the program will continue to gradually expand to the higher grades at the K-5 school.
Developing bilingual educators for that program is the district’s primary goal, Caldwell said, but another major goal is diversifying its staff in order to better connect with students.
“Part of our grant is we’re touching base with our students who are eligible for the seal of biliteracy (to) have them think about becoming dual language educators,” said Caldwell. “We know we have kids in our schools that one day could be great educators and we want to get them thinking that is a possibility.”
Lynn Public Schools rolled out the seal of biliteracy last year, which is another component of the LOOK act and is awarded to students who demonstrate a high level of bilingualism. The seal is expected to look attractive to prospective colleges and employers.
Last year, 78 students were awarded the seal on their high school transcripts and diplomas, and 114 students have received the distinction so far this year, based on the first wave of assessments. Sixty more high school seniors are expected to take the state language assessment next month, Caldwell said.
Caldwell anticipates that it could take awhile to build up the district’s pool of bilingual educators. Not many colleges offer bilingual-endorsed coursework, but the district wants to create a pipeline of students who will teach in Lynn through their partnership with Boston College.
“Over time, those programs will gain traction and more staff will become available,” said Caldwell. “We’re excited about the grant. After last year’s work, we really developed a vision of what dual language would look like in Lynn and the grant allows it to make it real.”
