To earn the English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsement, Oregon’s Teachers Standards and Practices Commission requires candidates to understand and use standards-based practices to construct learning environments that support ESOL and bilingual students’ cultural identities, language and literacy development, and content area achievement. Although most endorsement candidates will be working with English learners (ELs) as classroom teachers, with this endorsement you may be hired as an English language development (ELD) specialist, and you will be expected to be able to teach to the English language proficiency (ELP) standards. A strong internship experience is perhaps the most critical step in your preparation.
Before the Internship
Candidates need to submit an Internship Placement Request form at least six weeks prior to enrolling in ED 410/510 ESOL Internship. We highly recommend submitting this form at least one full academic term beforehand. Candidates must have completed all other ESOL coursework prior to the internship with a B (3.0) average. Exceptions may be made, on an individual basis, for completing ED 476/576 Partnerships and Ideologies in ESOL Education after the internship.
During the Internship
The internship requires successful completion of the following:
- At least ninety (90) hours—during regular teacher contract hours or at school-sponsored meetings—working with ELs. Within that total, at least 60 hours must be teaching. No more than 30 hours can be for other ESOL-related activities, such as class/student observations, parent-teacher conferences, or professional development/learning communities.
- Observation hours must be purposefully leading toward increased teaching responsibilities.
- Planning time must be in consultation with your internship cooperating teacher, during regular teacher contract hours, and include Oregon’s ELP standards or their Spanish equivalent.
- Professional development meetings, professional learning communities’ meetings, parent-teacher conferences, and interviews must directly involve ELs or the district’s (or school’s) EL program goals.
- A Portfolio that incorporates ESOL strategies and Oregon’s ELP standards.
- Two (2) Formal Observations by your ESOL university field supervisor.
- Two (2) Formal Observations by your ESOL cooperating teacher. [new]
- An Internship Team Evaluation completed by both your ESOL university field supervisor and your ESOL cooperating teacher.
- Active participation on the ESOL Internship’s Canvas site.
Candidates will use Taskstream for submitting and tracking all field placement documentation. The internship instructor will give candidates the necessary self-enrollment code for Taskstream for our ESOL directed response folio (DRF). This same Taskstream DRF will be used for program completion forms. For the ESOL endorsement, you are not required to have a Taskstream account until you are enrolled in ED 410/510 ESOL Internship.
