Meeting the Demand: An Inclusive and Expanding ESL Program at SDCCE
Submitted By: Jesus Rivas
San Diego Adult Education Regional Consortium
Website: https://sdcce.edu/esl
Type of Practice: Program Development / Curriculum / Classroom
Program Area(s): ESL / EL Civics / Citizenship
Region: San Diego - Imperial
Consortia Involved: San Diego Adult Education Regional Consortium
The Program of Practice
The ESL program at San Diego College of Continuing Education (SDCCE) faced the urgent challenge of responding to surging demand from a growing immigrant, refugee, and asylee population in the San Diego region. Crises in Haiti, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Ukraine significantly increased the number of immigrant students seeking English instruction. The demographic shifts brought more students with interrupted education, limited literacy, and increased need for trauma-informed teaching and supportive services. Compounding this was a reduction in non-contract staff support (NANCE), straining capacity to manage placement, enrollment, and classroom support at scale. Additionally, shifts in preferred modalities and lower productivity trends added further complexity to program planning and service delivery.
The Response
To meet these multifaceted challenges, the ESL program enacted a comprehensive, data-informed response centered on expanding access, increasing capacity, and aligning instruction with the needs of evolving student populations.
Key responses included:
• Hiring 10 new adjunct faculty in 2023-24 and onboarding 40+ over the last three years to meet enrollment demands.
• Opening more ESL classes at CE Mesa and Mid-City campuses, with one offsite location added when space ran out.
• Designing a new “Beginning Literacy Conversation” course and program focused on low-literacy, refugee learners.
• Enhancing student intake through collaboration with the Mid-City Welcome Center, using checklists and defined roles for staff to streamline enrollment.
• Leveraging partnerships with San Diego Unified School District to provide childcare and additional offsite instructional spaces.
• Integrating digital literacy lessons into the curriculum and piloting NorthStar Digital Literacy tools across three campuses.
• Offering tailored classes such as English for Parents and VESL (Vocational ESL) short-term courses aligned with employment goals.
• Providing professional development opportunities including TSI workshops, Hyflex meet-ups, and TESL refreshers to strengthen teaching for beginner levels and trauma-informed practices.
The Unique Features of the Program
Several innovations distinguish the SDCCE ESL program:
• Equity-Centered Curriculum Expansion: The introduction of new, level-specific courses like the Beginning Literacy Conversation class provides equitable learning opportunities for refugees and asylees with limited prior education.
• Integrated Supports and Site-Specific Solutions: Collaborations between Student Services, ESL, and the Welcome Center ensured that high-traffic sites like Mid-City had streamlined systems for managing student flow.
• Multimodal Access: The program serves students in person, online, hybrid, and Hyflex formats, with strategic shifts based on demand, instructional quality, and retention data.
• Professional Development Leadership: Faculty-led PD initiatives included specialized committees (e.g., LGBTQ+ Focus Group, Social Justice Committee, Teachers Using Technology) and efforts to build capacity for linguistically and culturally responsive instruction.
• DEI and OER Commitment: Nearly all courses embed diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and accessibility (DEIAA) principles, with increasing adoption of open educational resources to reduce costs and broaden access.
The Outcome
The program's multifaceted strategies yielded strong and measurable results:
• Enrollment and Access: ESL enrollments rose from 15921 to 25,957 and headcount from 6514 to 11,624 over three years.
• African American/Black Student Success: Driven largely by Haitian enrollment, course awards for African American students increased from 215 in 2020/21 to 1,081 in 2023/24, with a completion rate of 23.2%, exceeding the program average.
• Faculty Engagement: ESL had the highest TSI participation across all SDCCD programs in Spring 2024 and significant representation in mentoring initiatives.
• Digital Literacy Gains: The piloting and expansion of NorthStar Digital Literacy tools boosted digital competencies among students at key campuses.
• Streamlined Services: Placement and enrollment processes at high-demand campuses like Mid-City were successfully restructured to accommodate large waves of students with limited English proficiency.