Adult ESL Teacher Credentialing and Certification
This resource describes past and current efforts to professionalize the English as a second language (ESL) field.
This resource describes past and current efforts to professionalize the English as a second language (ESL) field. It gives examples of available credentialing or certification programs and opportunities. The authors also provide a comprehensive table listing state credentialing and certification requirements. This article underscores the need for standardization of the adult ESL teaching field.
None
This resource is important to the field of Adult Basic Education (ABE) as it documents adult ESL teacher certification and credentialing requirements in the 50 states and D.C. The data, compiled in one comprehensive table, draws attention to the wide variation—and lack of standardization—that exists across states in the requirements for adult ESL teaching. Citing the growing numbers of immigrants in the U.S., the brief underscores the importance of preparing ESL teachers to meet the increasing demand for ESL services and suggests that certification or credentialing may be an important component to professionalizing the ESL teacher workforce. This timely study may be particularly useful for those concerned about this need in ABE, and ESL specifically, especially administrators and policy makers who can develop and implement legislation.
The authors recommend that states undergo a formal survey of their adult ESL teacher certification and credentialing efforts to provide insight into the effects of these efforts on ESL teacher development and performance.
Resource highlights include:
- table with data of ESL teacher credentialing requirements across all states;
- clear definitions of credentialing and certification substantiated with examples from the field;
- brief overview of exemplary state and federal efforts to professionalize the adult ESL workforce, including the development of standards and initiatives to increase teachers’ access to professional development and resources;
- references to various standards documents
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
