Claflin University’s ELL Center Receives National, Regional Honors

Claflin University’s ELL Center – which offers local teachers much-needed training for working with English language learners in their schools – has received national and regional awards for its work.

The ELL Center received the Rose Duhon-Sells Program Award during the 24th National Association for Multicultural Education International Annual Conference on November 8, 2014, in Tucson, Arizona. Accompanying Claflin’s ELL Center project director Dr. Nan Li to the conference were Sierra Wald, a senior middle-level education major, and Simone Rascoe, a senior math education major.

In addition, the Innovation in Teacher Education Award, presented by the Southeastern Regional Association for Teacher Educators, was awarded to the Center on October 18, 2014. SRATE is the largest Regional Association for Teacher Educators, comprised of 16 Southeastern states.

Claflin University’s ELL Center, one of four statewide that is funded in part through a grant from the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, welcomes mainstream teachers who have been recommended by their districts to attend 40 hours of training throughout the year that helps them teach English language learners.

So far, the ELL Center – now in its fourth year – has trained and certified some 144 teachers from Bamberg, Calhoun and Orangeburg school districts in second language theory and hands-on strategies for the classroom.