KANTELL is a collaborative professional development project funded by the U.S. Department of Education to increase the number of Highly Qualified Kansas teachers who provide effective instruction to the growing English Language Learner (ELL) student population.

ELL students are the fastest growing population in public schools across the United States. According to the USDE Survey of the States, the Kansas ELL student population increased 350% from 1991 to 2001. This growth in culturally and linguistically diverse students provides an opportunity for Kansas children and schools to interact with classmates and families who have different life experiences, world views, cultures, and languages. It also presents new challenges for Kansas teachers as they share the responsibility for an effective, meaningful education for all students, including those with limited English proficiency.

Kansas teachers in geographically-isolated areas need access to specialized training and support to effectively teach ELL students. KANTELL responds to this need through the following objectives:

• Create a highly interactive, distance-learning format for the University of Kansas ESOL endorsement curriculum.
• Pilot the curriculum with participating Southwest Kansas teachers
• Increase the number of ESOL endorsed, secondary-content teachers who graduate from the University of Kansas.
• Evaluate the program’s impact on teacher effectiveness.

Partners

KANTELL operates through the Institute for Educational Research and Public Service in the School of Education at the University of Kansas, in collaboration with the TESL Faculty, the Southwest Plains Regional Service Center (SWPRSC), and SWPRSC partner school districts.