The Efficacy of Florida's Approach to ESOL Teacher Training Programs

The justification of mainstreaming tens of thousands of English language learners in regular content classes year after year in states such as Florida, rests on the premise that states and school districts adequately train teachers to work with these children. While this practice has become more and more widespread, there is little to no research that exists which can analyze the overall efficacy of these programs. This study attempts to determine if these programs are serving both the teachers and the children they teach in any meaningful way. With so much riding on the success of educating our growing population of English language learners in this country, we can no longer afford to treat this critical subject as something other than a national priority.