English as a Second Language Education P-12 (36 Hours) – Virginia

Educational Requirements

According to the Virginia Department of Education: 

The state of Virginia offers the following endorsements. 

• Virginia offers English as a Second Language Education.

Program requirements are located in the Virginia Administrative Code.

1. Earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university and graduated from an approved teacher preparation program in English as a second language; or

2. Earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university and completed 24 semester hours of coursework distributed in the following areas:

a. Teaching of reading and writing. Courses shall include skills in phonemic and other phonological awareness; pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading strategies; vocabulary development; and guided reading. Ability to structure interactive tasks that engage students in using oral language to develop language and skills. Ability to determine students’ reading levels and design instruction for multi-level classrooms by incorporating appropriate scaffolding or language supports; one course shall address teaching reading to English language learners: 6 semester hours;

b. English linguistics: general and English linguistics 3 semester hours;

c. Cross-cultural education: 3 semester hours;

d. Second language acquisition: 3 semester hours;

e. Methods of English as a second language, to include instruction based on the understanding of the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) English Language Development (ELD) Standards: 3 semester hours;

f. English as a second language assessment to include assessing comprehension and communication in English: 3 semester hours; and

g. Electives from the areas listed in this subdivision 2: 3 semester hours.