News release
Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061
publicinfo@selu.edu Spring 2004 news releases Public Information home News archive

Contact: Christina Chapple
Date: 8/3/04
 
Click on image for publication quality photo
SLU, JEFFERSON PARISH PARTNER IN PROJECT IMPACT -- Kathleen Leos, associate deputy under secretary of the Office of English Language Acquisition, center, presents Jefferson Parish Assistant Superintendent Isaac Joseph, left, and Southeastern President Randy Moffett, right, with a large facsimile of a check during an Aug. 3 ceremony for Project Impact, a new Southeastern program to train Jefferson Parish teachers and administrators, and Southeastern education faculty, to work with children who speak limited English.  Project Impact is funded by a $598,000 U.S. Department of Education grant. 
SOUTHEASTERN AWARDED $598,000 FEDERAL GRANT FOR PROJECT IMPACT
      HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University has received a $598,000 U.S. Department of Education grant for Project Impact, a program designed to train Jefferson Parish teachers, administrators and staff who work with children who speak limited English. 
      Diane Allen, dean of Southeastern’s College of Education and Human Development, said Project Impact was one of only 18 National Professional Development programs at colleges and universities in 13 states selected for the grant, which is funded by Title III of No Child Left Behind and administered by the Office of English Language Acquisition.
      “This was a highly coveted grant,” Allen said. “We can be really proud that Southeastern was selected.”
      Kathleen Leos, associate deputy under secretary of the Office of English Language Acquisition, presented the grant to the university on Aug. 3 in a brief ceremony in the Cate Teacher Education Center. Participants also included Allen; Southeastern President Randy Moffett; Jefferson Parish Assistant Superintendent Isaac Joseph; Wendy Staffeldt, coordinator of federal programs for Jefferson Parish schools; and Fernando Arriola, representing Jefferson Parish parents.
      “This university has a very unique opportunity to work with the state, with the local school district and with families of limited English proficient (LEP) students to become a model for the rest of the country,” Leos said. 
      Rossana Boyd, coordinator of the Southeastern’s English as a Second Language (ESL) add-on certification program, said the grant will benefit more than 500 children, 150 teachers and 120 non-instructional staff in six Jefferson Parish schools. Selected on the basis of need, the schools are Grace King High School, West Jefferson High School, Meisler Middle School, Gretna Junior High, J.C. Ellis Elementary School, and Boudreaux Elementary School.
      In addition to training Jefferson Parish teachers, Boyd said Project Impact will allow Southeastern faculty to incorporate issues related LEP education into the university’s teacher preparation curriculum. Also through the grant, Southeastern will produce print and audio versions of translated school policies and procedures to distribute to the parents of LEP students.
      Boyd, a native of Honduras who has more than 20 years experience in bilingual education, said Jefferson Parish has the largest number of LEP students in the state -- nearly 2,000 students in 48 different schools. Those students speak 50 different languages, with the most prevalent at the six target schools being Spanish, Vietnamese, Urdu, Arabic, and Chinese. 
      “These students,” Boyd said, “arrive here at different ages, with different cultural backgrounds, and different levels of education and English proficiency. Some come from war torn countries, while others come from stable, well-educated households. Some are literate in their native language and may speak some English. Others are totally pre-literate.
      “Teachers with these students in their regular classes struggle to instruct them on a daily basis,” Boyd said. “The teachers are unfamiliar with the culture and language, about how to adapt lessons, and how to assess students fairly based on their language and academic needs. They also need to learn how to involve parents of LEP students in the school improvement process.”
      Boyd said Southeastern worked closely with Jefferson Parish in designing Project Impact. In each of the project’s five years, 30 Jefferson Parish teachers will participate in three days of training to learn how to tailor their curricula, teaching methods and testing to increase the achievement of their LEP students. Another three-day in-service workshop will focus on ways to communicate with and involve parents. 
      Each year, 12 school administrators and 12 first contact school personnel, such as secretaries, will participate in a summer institute to learn how to effectively meet the needs of LEP students and parents.  In the final year of the grant, 12 teachers – two per school – will receive additional leadership training so that they, in turn, can provide LEP training in other Jefferson Parish schools.
      Boyd said that the training Project Impact provides would help LEP students – and the school system – close the gap that currently exists between LEP students and their peers on required evaluations such as the Louisiana Education Accountability Program.
      “Students are expected to acquire English language and core content area knowledge at the same time they are adjusting to a new culture,” she said. “Meanwhile, teachers have to meet the challenge of preparing students to demonstrate competency in the content areas that they are teaching, including English.”
      The Project Impact is Southeastern’s second federal grant targeting LEP students and teachers. In 2002, the university received  $1.2 million for Project Teach, which affects schools in Tangipahoa, Livingston, East Baton Rouge and Lafayette parishes. 
      Through Project Teach, 90 teachers annually participate in ESL training workshops and 20 complete the four Southeastern Internet courses leading to ESL add-on certification. Ten master teachers have the option to either earn the add-on certification or complete 12 credit hours toward a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with ESL emphasis. Southeastern offers the state’s only 100 percent Internet add-on ESL certification in program. 
      For additional information about Project Impact or ESL certification, contact Boyd at (985) 549?5736, rboyd@selu.edu. Information is also available online at www.selu.edu/esl.