Draft

ORTESOL K-12 Special Interest Group

Mission Statement

Spring 2007

Statement of Purpose

The role of the ORTESOL K-12 Special Interest Group is to represent the views of K-12 educators and support their interests at ORTESOL events. Among our concerns are the following:

Professional Concerns :

• To promote recognition of ESL as an established academic discipline;
• To promote professional standards and practices among ESL K-12 educators (teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators);
• To cooperate in appropriate w ays with others having similar concerns.

Academic Concerns :

• To establish means of sharing common interests, knowledge, and expertise in order foster a sense of community among K-12 educators in Oregon;
• To provide a forum for exchange of views, research, and best practices related to ESL in K-12 education;
• To promote research pertinent to ESL in the K-12 arena, methods and materials, and program administration;
• To recognize and explore issues brought on by current and proposed legislation which affects our jobs as educators;
• To survey the membership to determine the needs, problems, and projects specific to ESL in the K-12 arena.

Activities include, but are not limited to :

•  Use the ORTESOL WEB site and K-12 SIG Forum to expand knowledge, understanding of, and communication on issues related K-12 ESL teaching and instruction.  

•  To coordinate with the ORTESOL Conference Coordinator to arrange workshops addressing K-12 issues.

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