New Project Targets the Instruction of English Language Learners in Secondary Schools - July 27th, 2010

The College of Education’s Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk (MCPER) recently announced formation of the Texas Institute for the Acquisition of Language for Learning, a technical assistance and support center funded by the Texas Education Agency.

Part of the Student Success Initiative, the new project will assist 87 middle and high schools in Texas with their programs of instruction for English language learners and will provide various professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators during the two-year grant period (June 1, 2010, to May 31, 2012).

The goals of the project are for students to receive quality instruction leading to increased academic achievement and prepare teachers to meet the needs of English language learners. The MCPER team includes project director Leticia Martinez; project manager Leticia Grimaldo; and senior field trainers/analysts Genise Henry, Colleen Moore, Olga Martinez Hickman and Shimona Eason.

Created at The University of Texas at Austin in 2008 with a major commitment from the Meadows Foundation of Dallas, the MCPER is a collaboration of researchers from multiple disciplines and sites, including the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts. Much of the research, technical assistance and professional development activities at the MCPER are organized within five institutes: the Autism Spectrum Disorders Institute, Dropout Prevention Institute, Mathematics Institute for Learning Disabilities and Difficulties, Reading Institute, and Response to Intervention Institute.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910