1 March 30, 2018

To: Hiring Committee

Fr: Kerry Segel, Ph. D., Professor of English and TESOL
Saginaw Valley State University
Re: Letter of recommendation for Ms. Sara Houser

I am writing this letter of support of Ms. Sara Houser, who has applied for a position in your
school district. My comments will mainly concern her preparation for the K-12 ESL Minor,
which she is carrying out under my direction.

In the 15 years I have coordinated and instructed in the ESL minor, I have never had a student
with the combination of intellect, engagement, passion and dedication as Sara Houser. Her
teaching philosophy, her experience, and her writing ability are evident in the documents she has
submitted for the positions she has applied for. Therefore, my comments will be specific to my
interactions with Sara in the ESL Minor program.

I have had Sara in three courses– TESOL I, TESOL II, and Second Language and Culture
Acquisition. I will also be supervising her ESL practicum experience. From the first course we
had together onward, I consistently have witnessed the extraordinary depth and detail to which
she prepares each and every assignment. Incredible! Moreover, in the group discussion and
shared learning that are fundamental aspects of each of these classes, Sara has displayed
outstanding leadership and engagement. She is at once spontaneous and reflective, while creating
an atmosphere that encourages participation of all members in her group. Another outstanding
feature Sara has is her ability to make connections between what she has learned in other courses
to whatever class we have had together. For example, she mentioned in a recent class session
how examples in one of the course texts had clarified her understanding of a concept learned in a
general teacher education course.

One of the features of the SVSU ESL minor preparation program is intense preparation in
sheltered teaching, specifically the SIOP approach. In TESOL II, students complete a twelve
week-program on SIOP including an overview, intensive study of the eight components and
thirty features, RTI, and review of the SIOP framework. They evaluate lesson plan scenarios
provided in the SIOP materials Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP
Model (5th edition, 2017) , and incorporate SIOP features into mini-lessons based on strategies
appropriate for ELs, using 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners (5th edition,
2016) as the primary text. To provide depth to the assessment component of SIOP, students
explore six different aspects of alternative assessment and over 100 activities for carrying out
assessments appropriate to ESL learners: New Ways of Classroom Assessment, Revised (2013).
The application of the SIOP methodology and the strategies training provides the foundation for
the practical teaching experience (practicum) in ESL. ESL candidates prepare SIOP-based
lessons for any group or whole-class teaching. For candidates such as Sara who wish to obtain
K-12 ESL certification, SIOP-based teaching must occur at all levels of instruction– elementary,
middle, and secondary.
I’ve provided the example of the SIOP training to illustrate the intensity of the program that Sara
is completing. Those students who successfully complete the ESL minor (elementary, secondary
or K-12) are well prepared to be outstanding ESL teachers in Michigan schools. For Sara, there
is one additional aspect beyond teacher preparation which I alluded to previously, and that is
leadership. I know that classroom teaching is her passion; however, I can easily see her in the
future as providing ESL leadership– coaching, supporting general education teachers– at the
school and the district level as well.

Over the last two years, I have been privileged to be a part of Sara’s teacher preparation. Having
been in the ESL field for ½ a century, I have a good sense of who the best of the future ESL
teachers will be. Sara Houser will be one of the very best.

Sincerely,

Kerry Segel, Ph.D.

Professor of English and TESOL
Saginaw Valley State University
University Center MI 48710-0001
ksegel@svsu.edu