Make school a place multilingual learners thrive!
Do you want to help make school a place where multilingual learners thrive? As schools increasingly seek qualified teachers to support their multilingual student populations, the dual certification program at UW–Madison prepares you to provide equitable opportunities for students in your classroom who are learning English. You’ll gain expertise in designing inclusive lesson plans, supporting language development and academic success, and fostering a supportive learning environment and sense of belonging for multilingual learners in diverse classrooms.
Upon completion of the master’s teacher education degree program, you’ll earn certification in your subject-area specialization and ESL. Whether as a content specialist with ESL expertise or as an ESL specialist with expertise in specific subject content, you’ll be equipped to positively impact your classroom with this high-demand dual certification.
Program Prerequisites
Our dual certification master’s program prepares you to specialize in ESL and an academic content area.
Applicants must meet the prerequisites for a specific content subject (see our Program Subject Areas English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and World Languages). You may apply for multiple subject areas but must select one content specialization before enrollment. There are no additional prerequisites for the ESL dual certification pathway.
ESL Teacher Certification Pathway
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Program Overview
- The certification pathway integrates 4 ESL instructional courses, 4 content area instruction courses, and 5 teacher education courses with a practical fieldwork component in Dane County schools.
- ESL COURSES:
- CURRIC 736 Educating Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Learners
- CURRIC 737 Linguistics for Educators
- CURRIC 673 Learning Second Language and Literacies
- CURRIC 674 Advanced Methods in Teaching English as a Second Language
Certification and Licensing Insights
- Completing our program earns you an ESL K-12 certification, aligning with Wisconsin’s ESL license (number 1395). This certification qualifies you to teach English to speakers of other languages across all K-12 levels, supporting academic subject instruction.
- For those seeking a bilingual license, additional steps are needed: a specific bilingual methods course, bilingual fieldwork, and proof of language proficiency.
- For more detailed information on licensure requirements and licensing in Wisconsin, please visit the Wisconsin DPI pages on Teaching License pathways