According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina ranks among the top states in the country for employing literacy teachers, which includes ESL educators. As of 2012, the state employed 4,420 literacy teachers at the secondary and adult levels, which is nearly twice the number in Florida, a far more populous state. These figures, along with an annual mean wage of nearly $48,000, make the state a promising place to start or continue a career in TESOL.
Career Prospects for North Carolina ESL Educators
According to the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, over 106,000 K-12 North Carolina students were categorized as ELLs in the 2007-2008 academic year. This statistic is 270 percent higher than the number of ELL students in the previous decade. Students and families speak a variety of home languages, with the most common being Spanish, Vietnamese, French, Creole, and Chinese. The high number of newcomers and immigrant settlement patterns are strong indicators of good career prospects for teachers of ESL, bilingual programs, and sheltered English courses.
Finding TESOL Employment in North Carolina
- The Work 4 NC Schools webpage, administered by the DPI, hosts an interactive map of the state’s public school district websites. This page also allows people to search for teaching vacancies, apply for jobs, and review the state’s charter school system.
- DPI also manages the School Jobs webpage. North Carolina school districts supply postings of available education jobs.
- The University of North Carolina at Charlotte maintains an ESL Job Postings list that is organized by counties in North and South Carolina.
North Carolina Resources for ESL Educators
- Educators and pre-service educators from North and South Carolina comprise the membership of Carolina TESOL. This is the regional affiliate of the international TESOL association. The organization sponsors the annual SETESOL conference, as well as maintaining a list of online and print resources for ESL and bilingual educators.
- DPI administers an English as a Second Language section on its K-12 Curriculum and Instruction NC Standard Course of Study webpage.
- DPI also maintains an English Language Development wiki summarizing its ELD policies, resources, and professional development offerings.
- The Southern Conference on Language Teaching is a regional organization concerned with the study of classical languages, literature, and culture.