An exploratory case study of the collaboration between teachers of English-as-a-Second-Language and bilingual programs

This explorational case study examined teacher collaboration between bilingual and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) staff at a school in a large urban district in the Midwest. Twelve participants were interviewed twice, the first interview lasting about an hour and the second about a half of an hour regarding collaborative practices at the school as well as attitudes, philosophies and policies that might effect ESL-bilingual teacher collaboration. National, regional, and state bilingual and ESL officials were also polled to provide additional information on ESL-bilingual teacher collaboration. Findings indicated that although bilingual and ESL teachers tended to differ significantly on philosophical issues regarding how Limited-English Proficient (LEP) students should be taught, all felt that the philosophies that drive ESL and bilingual education were compatible. The principal and ESL district supervisor played key roles in the implementation of the collaborative program. A large amount of planning time was provided to bilingual and ESL teachers so that team planning for team teaching within the bilingual classroom could occur. All teachers that worked collaboratively believed that the experience was positive but most believed that the ESL teachers, who were forced to teach in the bilingual classroom, should have had more options to pull out low-level LEP students for smaller group instruction rather than exclusive collaborative in-class teaching arrangement for ESL teachers. Suggestions for further research included a study to determine how standardized test scores of LEP students are affected by ESL-bilingual collaborative teaching arrangements