Building the Supply of Bilingual Teachers in California

In the fall of 2017, the California Department of Education awarded a Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP) state grant to eight Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to address the bilingual teacher shortage in California. Oak Grove School District served as the lead funding agency for one of the grant projects, which included a consortium of twelve school districts and one county office of education in partnership with SEAL.
Findings from “Building the Supply of Bilingual Teachers in California: Evidence From State Investment Shows Districts Should Look Closer to Home for Bilingual Teacher Candidates” the Oak Grove/SEAL BTPDP project helped increase the State’s supply of bilingual teachers and their bilingual teaching expertise.

California has always been multilingual. The resources exist in the state to build an education system that is biliterate and bilingual—where children are guided by multilingual educators who are skilled at creating language-rich environments and celebrate the rich diversity that students and their families bring to the classroom. We urge policymakers to include a $10 million appropriation to bring back the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program which was highly successful and had a “grow your own” approach to assist teachers in the bilingual education space.