HUMAN RESOURCES

Support from the Human Resources department is imperative as teacher recruitment will be impacted with the addition of a dual language immersion (DLI) program. (See also Module 7: and Teacher Recruitment and Development)

The following is a list of recommendations for the Human Resources department as you plan your DLI program.

• Survey the district for teachers with credentials or authorizations that would allow them to teach in a DLI setting, to determine interest in staffing the DLI program at the designated location.
• Job description(s) may need to be rewritten to reflect the appropriate credentials or authorizations to teach in the target language.
• Job description should include the requirement that the teacher possess high academic language and native-like proficiency in both the target language and English.
• Interview panel should include at least one person that is highly bilingual and biliterate. Many districts have a community member who is a native speaker of the target language group participate in the interview.
• The interview questions may need to be revised to reflect the context of a DLI setting.
• A portion of the interview should be conducted in the target language.
  • The response to the questions in the target language should be considered on two levels: for content and for language proficiency.
  • The applicant’s oral proficiency should be included in the evaluation of the applicant’s overall qualifications for the position.
• The applicant’s and written proficiency in the target language should be assessed during the interview and be included in the evaluation of the applicant’s overall qualifications for the position.
  • Often, the assessment of the applicant’s written proficiency is done prior to or at the conclusion of the interview.
    • The written portion of the interview may include a short school-related document to translate and an open-ended prompt or a response to reading a text in the target language to elicit higher level academic language and more sophistication in the response.
    • Another option is to have the applicant present a short lesson in the target language at a grade level that will demonstrate the applicant’s command of higher levels of academic language, and in particular, allow the interview panel to learn the applicant’s proficiency in writing in the target language.

Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education: Strand 5, Staff Quality and Professional Development, Principle 1; Strand 7, Support and Resources, Principle 1