When
I validated the words national agencies bilingual education, I was struck by
the internet feedback: New Jersey and Connecticut organizations prevailed
providing amazing resources related to general information and programs in
progress. For instance, the State of New Jersey Department of Education
Bilingual Education page offers the following resources:
NJTESOL-NJBE - New Jersey
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages-New Jersey Bilingual
Educators,
TESOL
Disregarding the political leadership of the State,
I am thankful for its quick internet response to key words like bilingual and
education and somewhat disappointed that my own state was not on the first page
of answers. I am also perplexed why schools that implement a bilingual kindergarten
program keep it a secret moreover when a nearby child care center uses a
bilingual approach in one of their pre-k classes. There is a program in place, a
purpose, and it is aligned with state requirement to provide bilingual services
when at least twenty children require those services.
Clearly, I must investigate a little more to
understand why those programs are seemingly covert and reassess the
implementation of my project of bilingual 3 to 5 preschool. It reinforces the
need to closely work with public schools since they are growing their
transitional kindergarten program and perhaps waiting on the next election to
have the green light for opening pre-k classes
In addition to the resources offered by the State of
New Jersey Office of Education, three federal organizations caught my
attention. First, the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) that “works
to influence and create policies, programs, research, pedagogy, and
professional development, because we know we are investing in our children’s
education, our nation’s leadership and our world’s well being”, a new member of
my Community of Practice (CoP) will give me support and resources relative to
best practices in bilingual education (2014).
Also a member of my CoP, the National Latino
Children’s Institute (NLCI) will help bring perspective to information since
the NLCI’s mission is verifying that programs, initiatives and policies are
actually implemented and “address poverty, immigration, and language barriers” (2001).
Third, an administrator’s duty is to keep abreast of
latest advances in early childhood science. To help me fulfill this task, I
selected the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) dedicated
to producing research-based best practices for high-quality early childhood
education “enhancing their physical, cognitive, and social development and
subsequent success in school and later life” (2014).
On
the job front, I am still looking at program director positions whether they include
teaching or not. Although I know that I have acquired adequate knowledge to
manage a child care center, I tend to take job requirements to the letter. To competently
fulfill requirements, I need to practice Spanish and English with administrative
vocabulary and gain more work experience in a preschool environment.
My next step is to celebrate this last stretch gaining more confidence in myself before the end of the master’s program; we are almost at the top of the mountain and I feel the exhilaration and the lack of oxygen
