Factors Associated With Novice General Education Teachers’ Preparedness to Work With Multilingual Learners: A Multilevel Study

Authors

Qizhen Deng Ph.D., Boise State UniversityFollow
Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Kara Mitchell Viesca, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Qizhen Deng https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3323-2433

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2021

Citation

Published in Journal of Teacher Education (2021), 15pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0022487120971590

Comments

Copyright © 2020 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; published by SAGE Publications. Used by permission.

Abstract

This study examined factors linked to novice general education teachers’ perception of their preparedness to work with multilingual learners in the classroom. Using a multilevel modeling approach, we examined factors at the teacher and school levels using two AY 2015 to 2016 datasets: The National Teacher and Principal Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Civil Rights Data Collection from the Office of Civil Rights. The results show that teacher perception of preparedness was positively associated with teacher education courses on working with multilingual learners, supports received during the first-year teaching, and the number of multilingual learners teachers worked within their classrooms. Similarly, the concentration of multilingual learners at the school level had a positive impact on preparedness. Overall, it appears that experiences both learning about and working with multilingual learners are positively associated with novice general education teachers’ perceptions of preparedness to work with multilingual students.