There is a teacher shortage across the country, and this need is especially prevalent in Texas, where schools serve large populations of bilingual students.
According to the Intercultural Development Research Association, nearly 1 in 4 Texas public school students is an emergent bilingual student. As a result, more school districts in our community offer dual-language bilingual education programs in which English speakers and second-language learners benefit from becoming bilingual and bicultural.
We are committed to preparing bilingual education teachers to meet school districts’ workforce demands as they play a critical role in the education of bilingual learners.
We live in a global society, and being bilingual offers many benefits. Bilingual individuals demonstrate adaptability, critical problem-solving and cross-cultural communication skills. A bilingual workforce increases a country’s capacity to interact and compete globally.
Strategically, the University of Texas at San Antonio recruits prospective teachers from different pools, which include traditional high school students, community college transfers and paraprofessionals. Despite our efforts, too many classrooms lack fully certified bilingual teachers.
In 2021, more than 1.1 million bilingual/ESL students attended Texas public schools. For example, Northside Independent School District reported an increase in bilingual students from about 10,500 to 13,500 in the past four years. Yet 14 of the 20 educational service regions in Texas had fewer than the 50% of the bilingual teachers they need for their students.
There are paraprofessionals who desire to become teachers but face barriers. Many care for children or family members, leaving little time to pursue higher education. The cost of college also deters some prospective students from entering teaching programs. Yet these professionals already come to higher education with classroom experience.
Paraprofessionals are untapped resources who are deeply committed to their communities. Their dedication is inspiring. They are ready to meet the challenges they will encounter as teachers since they have experience working with diverse student populations.
To support them, we applied for a competitive grant to create a pathway enabling more paraprofessionals to earn their degrees and teaching credentials. In addition to receiving an education of the highest quality, participants in the program would gain real-world experience in the classroom through our Signature Teacher Residency Model.
With this new pathway, we are addressing the academic, financial and social-emotional barriers that prevent paraprofessionals from obtaining a degree and teaching credentials.
As teacher candidates, selected paraprofessionals will participate in a community of learners to address their academic and social-emotional needs. The teacher candidates will have access to ongoing college and career guidance, professional learning sessions, preparation for teacher exams and a textbook bibliotheca.
It is our hope that this new program will transform the lives of local paraprofessionals, provide a highly qualified bilingual teacher workforce to support the academic needs of bilingual learners and address the demand for bilingual teachers in our community.
Belinda Bustos Flores and Lorena Claeys are co-directors of the Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center at The University of Texas at San Antonio.
A version of this op-ed appeared in the San Antonio Express-News.
