Project UNITED Admits First Class of Educators

Last year, L&L faculty including Elise DuBord, Carmen Durham, Aliza Fones and Elizabeth Zwanziger, received a five-year grant of almost $1.5 million to address the need for more trained educators to work with Iowa’s burgeoning population of English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Part of the grant provides scholarship funding to cover the tuition costs of the ESL endorsement for teachers. 

This fall, ten (10) new graduate students became the first cohort of scholarship recipients funded by Project UNITED (awarded by U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition). They will be taking ESL endorsement courses alongside students in UNI’s online TESOL M.A. program. These students come from throughout Iowa, and many currently teach in underserved districts where there are a substantial number of English language learner students. Overall, the fall MA & ESL cohort represent 13 diffierent Iowa school districts.

Aliza Fones, L&L Assistant Professor and one of the co-primary investigators for the grant, notes that “creating a more equitable and just society involves equipping teachers with the knowledge they need to support the growing diversity of students in Iowa's schools. This new cohort of participants in Project UNITED are part of a growing number of educators and future-educators who will be prepared through UNI's TESOL programs to teach English learners.”

This summer, Dawn Larsen joined the Project UNITED team as a Project Manager handling administrative tasks related to the grant administration. Most recently, she had worked in the Office of Exam Services, and she has been a UNI employee for over 14 years. “I’m excited to be part of this innovative and important project,” Larsen says.

Project UNITED is also working with recruitment specialist Shelby Miller to make inroads into school districts throughout the state, particularly within the counties covered by the Central Rivers Area Education Agency that are in need of TESOL-trained educators. In years two through five of the grant, additional students, both undergraduate and graduate, will be eligible for similar scholarships, and the project will also develop innovative curriculum to address the changing educational needs in districts throughout Iowa. 

As Fones notes, “We are thrilled to begin working with these educators who are committed to developing the teaching skills that they need in order to support Iowa's growing and diverse population of English learners.”