Eleven grants from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) have served to enhance ESL teacher education at UAB. In addition to promoting UAB's unique distance-delivery model - with the most distant site at 250 miles from Birmingham, these grants have also served in fostering ESL partnerships with targeted school systems around the state such as Shelby County, Jefferson County, Etowah County, Baldwin County, Gadsden City, Attalla City, Enterprise City, and Homewood City, as well as with the St. James Catholic School (Gadsden) and the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. Furthermore, by supporting the development of ESL workshops for PK-12 educators and university faculty, these grants have also been instrumental in situating UAB as one of the Alabama State Department of Education's premiere partners in the delivery of ESL professional development to mainstream teachers.

EMPOWER

September 2022-August 2027
As a National Professional Development Program grant, Project EMPOWER is a five-year collaboration between the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Alabaster City School District, Birmingham City Schools, Jefferson County Schools, Pelham City School District, Shelby County Schools, Tarrant City Schools, and the Birmingham City Public Library. Funded through the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) in the U.S. Department of Education, EMPOWER provides tuition support toward graduate degrees in education and ESOL certification for practicing teachers and pre-service teachers in partnering districts. Coursework and additional professional development in partnering schools address all aspects of multilingual learners’ (MLs) educational experiences, with an emphasis on promoting authentic family engagement to advance ML learning and school readiness.

Project CREST: Consortium for Responsive Education and Successful Teaching of English Learners

September 2016-August 2021
Project CREST is a 5-year collaborative partnership between the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Etowah County Board of Education, the Gadsden City Schools, the Attalla City Schools, and the St. James Catholic School. Project CREST provides tuition stipends for PK-12 teachers and aides to take ESL teacher certification courses while pursuing college degrees and/or ESL certification in order to improve the quality of instruction for English Language Learners. With a focus on family and community engagement, Project CREST also provides professional development in ESL-related issues for educators in the partnering schools as well as for university faculty at the local Schools of Education.

IMPACT-PD: Improving Preschoolers' Acquisition of Language through Coaching Teachers and Professional Development

September 2016-August 2021
IMPACT-PD is a 5-year partnership between UAB and the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education (ADECA), funded by the U.S. Department of Education, through a National Professional Development grant from the Office of English Language Acquistion. The overarching purpose of IMPACT-PD is to provide educators with professional development for improving instruction for Dual Language Learners in preschool. IMPACT-PD has four goals: (1) Online Professional Development Modules to improve instruction for the Pre-K English Learners; (2) In-field Summer EL PD Institute using the Alabama Reflective Coaching Model; (3) PD and outreach activites for parent, family, and community engagement; and (4) Enhance teacher preparedness to teach ELs through ESL degree seeking coursework. The grant will provide opportunities for both in-service and pre-service teachers over the five years of implementation.

Etowah EDGE: ELs Developing, Growing, and Excelling

May 2012-April 2018
Etowah EDGE is a 6-year collaborative partnership between the Etowah County Board of Education and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Etowah EDGE provides tuition stipends for PK-12 teachers and aides to take ESL teacher certification courses while pursuing college degrees and/or ESL certification in order to improve the quality of instruction for English Language Learners. Etowah EDGE also provides professional development in ESL-related issues for certified staff in Etowah County schools as well as for university faculty at the local Schools of Education.

Southeast ECHO: ELs Charting New Horizons and Opportunities

May 2012-April 2018
Southeast ECHO is a 6-year collaborative partnership between the Enterprise City Schools and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Southeast ECHO provides tuition stipends for PK-12 teachers and aids to take ESL teacher certification courses while pursuing college degrees and/or ESL certification in order to improve the quality of instruction for English Language Learners. Southeast ECHO also provides professional development in ESL-related issues for certified staff in the Enterprise City schools as well as for university faculty at the local Schools of Education.

Project SPEAK: Sheltered Instruction for Promoting ELs' Academic Knowledge

May 2012-April 2018
Project SPEAK was a 6-year collaborative partnership between the Jefferson County Board of Education and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Project SPEAK provides tuition stipends for PK-12 teachers and aides to take ESL teacher certification courses while pursuing college degrees and/or ESL certification in order to improve the quality of instruction for English Language Learners. Project SPEAK also provides professional development in ESL-related issues for certified staff in the Jefferson County schools as well as for university faculty at the local Schools of Education.

Shelby STARS: Sheltered Teaching Accommodations for Reaching Success

July 2007-December 2012
Shelby Stars was a 5-year collaborative project between the Shelby County School System and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Shelby STARS provided tuition stipends for N-12 teachers and aides to take ESL teacher education courses while pursuing college degrees and/or ESL certification in order to improve the quality of instruction for English Language Learners. Shelby STARS also provided professional development in ESL-related issues for certified and non-certified staff in the Shelby County Schools as well as for university faculty at the local Schools of Education.

Project HEART: Homewood Educators Accommodating, Reaching, and Teaching

July 2007-December 2012
Project HEART was a 5-year collaborative project between the Homewood City School System and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Project HEART provided tuition stipends for PK-12 teachers and aides to take ESL teacher education courses while pursuing college degrees and/or ESL certification in order to improve the quality of instruction for English Language Learners. Project HEART also provided professional development in ESL-related issues for certified and non-certified staff in Homewood City Schools as well as for university faculty at the local Schools of Education.

Project EQUAL

October 2002-September 2008
Project EQUAL was a 6-year collaborative project between UAB and the Shelby County School System that provided equal access to education for all students. More specifically, Project EQUAL was a comprehensive educational program for supporting the language acquisition and academic achievement of second language learners. Through Project EQUAL, 87 teachers have obtained ESL certification and 19 instructional aides and pre-service teachers have obtained a college degree and/or certification for teaching ELLs. Professional development was also provided to administrators, counselors, and information specialists in the Shelby County Schools as well as to 32 faculty members at the Schools of Education at UAB and at the University of Montevallo.

New Teachers for New Students (NTNS)

October 2001-May 2005
NTNS was a 4-year collaborative project between the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Kansas State University, the Alabama State Department of Education, and the Greater Birmingham Holmes Partnership Public Schools. The purpose of NTNS was to assist public schools in providing trained ESL-certified who were able to work effectively in teaching and developing educational programs for the growing number of culturally and linguistically diverse students, especially those who were limited in their English proficiency. Through NTNS, ESL certification was obtained by 82 teachers from the following areas in Alabama: Baldwin County, DeKalb County, Oxford, Russellville, and greater Birmingham. NTNS was also instrumental in establishing UAB's distance-delivery approach for the MAEd/ESL and its annual summer institute for ESL teachers.

Project ACCESS

October 2001-December 2004
Project ACCESS was a 3-year grant implemented by the University of Alabama at Birmingham with school systems throughout Alabama. Project ACCESS promoted principled educational opportunities for ELLs through the professional development of school system personnel and higher education faculty. Project ACCESS provided training for 95 classroom teachers to make appropriate accommodations in the delivery of instructional content in ways that reflect ESL best practices. It also trained personnel such as administrators, paraprofessionals, office staff, bus drivers and cafeteria workers to emply ESL best practices when working with English Language Learners and their families. Project ACCESS was also instrumental in creating and maintaining the first website at UAB for ESL teacher education.