When I moved to Santa Monica four years ago I had just completed the Teach For America corps in Chicago, which I participated in because of my passion for helping under-represented groups attain access to higher education. I’ll admit that I learned a lot about how under-resourced schools and low-socioeconomic status act as barriers to college access; however, I had very limited understanding of the achievement gap between native speaking and limited-English-proficient students.  When I did move to California, I began teaching at a private school where I did not have any ELL (English Language Leaners) students in my classroom.  I teach high school mathematics, so I also fell victim to thinking “mathematics is a universal language,” therefore, students from all language backgrounds should be able to comprehend the information I was teaching.   

It wasn’t until I began the UCLA Extension English Learner Added Authorization (CTEL/CLAD) required by the State of California that I learned almost 25% of the California public school population is comprised of ELL students.  I learned about the ways in which ELL students struggle to access content knowledge because of limited language proficiency, and I practiced teaching strategies to make content comprehensible for all students.  The CLAD program included four courses: Culture and Inclusion, Language and Language Development, Assessment for English Language Learners, and Foundations of English Language Development & Methods of Content Instruction.  This ePortfolio includes samples of key assignments I completed in this program.  My work demonstrates the knowledge and teaching competencies I have gained and have applied in my classroom.   I truly had a shift in my thinking by the completion of this program.  Although mathematics is a universal language, it can be treated as a foreign language for all my students.  I learned mathematics can most effectively be taught to all students by using the models and tools I learned to support English Language Learners.