Grant supports work on counseling English language learners

By Trevor Havard, College of Education intern

Salsbury-80PULLMAN, Wash. – Associate professor Tom Salsbury has won a three-year Washington State University grant for research into the counseling needs of middle school English language learners in Washington.

“The school population of English language learners is increasing at a fast rate, and yet research that provides guidance to educators in meeting these students’ needs is lacking,” said Darcy Miller, chair of teaching and learning in the College of Education. “Dr. Salsbury has proposed a timely and innovative study with theoretical and practical implications that will greatly benefit English language learners, school districts and teachers.”

The college’s Nichols Mitchell Faculty Fellowship awards $12,500 per year to a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in both research and the classroom and who has an active research program that aligns with both college and university strategic plans.

Salsbury, who has been part of the teaching and learning department since 2005, won the award for his study, “Identifying Counseling Needs and Services of Middle School English Language Learners in Washington Public Schools.”

Tim Church, College of Education associate dean for research, said a unique feature of the study was the collaboration between Salsbury, an English language learners (ELL) expert, with an experienced school counselor.

“This draws on diverse but complementary perspectives as the researchers seek to identify and better understand the socio-emotional and counseling needs of ELL students,” Church said.