According to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2012, while Connecticut is slightly below the national average in the number of literacy and ESL teachers it hires, it is slightly above average in the number of such teachers relative to its population size. In addition, Connecticut scores fifth in the country for its annual mean wage for literacy instructors, at $58,740 as of May 2012.
Connecticut’s ESL Teaching Outlook
According to Fairfield University’s Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions, bilingual education and ESL are two critical shortage areas in the state of Connecticut. Add to this information the fact that the National Clearinghouse for English Acquisition (NCELA) found that Connecticut experienced a 53.8 percent increase in its school age immigrant population from 1997 to 2007, and it appears that the need for qualified ESL and bilingual educators in Connecticut will increase rather than decrease. Potential bilingual and dual-immersion teachers do well if they speak one of the state’s most prominent foreign languages, such as Spanish, Pacific Island languages, Portuguese, Chinese, or French.
Connecticut Teacher Job Boards
- CT Reap allows applicants to search state teaching positions in public, private, and charter schools.
- Hartford Public Schools, one of Connecticut’s largest and most diverse school districts, has its own Job Openings Web page.
- Connecticut Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ConnTESOL) maintains an Online Resources Web page with announcements of job openings for ESL teachers that are outside of Connecticut’s K-12 public school system.
- The Connecticut Education Association has an education job vacancy list that it updates monthly.
Key ESL Teacher Resources in Connecticut
- ConnTESOL, or Connecticut Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, is the state branch of TESOL, an international group advocating for ELLs and their educators.
- CSDE maintains a Web page with links to its policies regarding Bilingual/English as a Second Language (ESL) Education.
- The Connecticut Office of Higher Education maintains a Student Financial Aid guide listing state government programs, scholarships, grants, loans, incentives, and other resources for students, graduate students, and prospective educators.