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The high illiteracy rate among the Hispanic immigrant population in the United States is being addressed by Claflin University's Assistant Professor of Education Dr. Nan Li, who has been awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education based on her research into the problem.
This is Li's second grant. As a result of the first grant for $35,200, the School of Education formulated a training program for 10 of Claflin's teacher candidates, who visited schools and homes to help both students and their parents improve their literacy and use and pronunciation of English.
The first grant allowed Li and her students to develop lesson plans with effective methods for assessing progress and to collect data, which was added to Li's research.
"Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics reveals that 550,000 teachers in this country left the teaching occupation in 2003-2004," Li said. Among those who left, half were ide.jpgied as ineffective teachers.
"To be effective, today's teachers must meet the needs of more diverse classrooms," she said.
The model project was then developed by Li, with the aid of her students, and is known as "English Acquisition: The National Professional Development Program."
This will meet national needs and "prepare qualified teachers who can work effectively with English-language learners," Li said.
Li, who said she was thrilled when she learned of the latest grant, believes her research into the national demographic changes that are affecting students contains valuable findings for all teachers who contributed to the grant.
Included in the many facts and statistics in the report are the findings that "over four million school-aged children are (English-language learners) and ten million students come from homes in which a language other than English is spoken."
The report also lists the advantages of the experience gained by Claflin University's teacher candidates, stressing that "the data collected will be used to strengthen the teacher education program at Claflin to better prepare all the teacher candidates to provide effective instruction to (English-language learners)."
Under the five-year grant, Li's team of teacher candidates will undergo one week of training prior to working in four school districts: Orangeburg School Districts 3, 4 and 5 and Calhoun County School District.
Li says her goal as a university educator is to undertake research, advance her teaching skills and provide a service. The federal grant allows her to do all three while also providing students with valuable experience, assisting the Hispanic population's integration into the community and benefiting the School of Education and Claflin University through resources the grant will provide.
"This award aligns perfectly with the Claflin Imperative to equip our graduates to meet the challenges of an increasingly global, multicultural and technological society," Claflin President Dr. Henry N. Tisdale said.
"By improving the preparation of teacher candidates in this critical area of need, we in turn help to strengthen the quality of education for children throughout our community, state and nation. We commend Dr. Li and look forward to the enhancements that this innovative initiative will bring to the School of Education," he said.