Equity for Multilingual learners, by Providing Opportunities for family engagement, through Web access, and Educational Resources
As a National Professional Development grant, Project EMPOWER is a five-year collaboration between the University of Alabama at Birmingham and:
- Alabaster City School District
- Birmingham City Schools
- Hoover City Schools
- Jefferson County Schools
- Pelham City School District
- Shelby County Schools
- Tarrant City Schools
- Birmingham City Public Library
Funded through the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) in the U.S. Department of Education, EMPOWER provides tuition support toward graduate degrees in education and ESOL certification for practicing teachers and pre-service teachers in partnering districts. Coursework and additional professional development in partnering schools address all aspects of multilingual learners' (MLs) educational experiences, with an emphasis on promoting authentic family engagement to advance ML learning and school readiness.
Aspects of EMPOWER
- TESOL degree and certification scholarships - to prepare in-service educators in partnering school districts, and pre-service teachers, to work with MLs and promote family engagement
- Professional learning and development - for in-service educators in the areas of best practices for teaching in classrooms that have multi-lingual learners and for effective family engagement
- Family engagement and preparation - for supporting their multi-lingual learners in learning and school readiness
EMPOWER Grant Scholarships
EMPOWER's TESOL Degree and Certification Scholarships
- EMPOWER's grant application period has finished: The final EMPOWER grant application period is over and the members of the final scholarship cohort, which started in January 2025, have already been selected. There are no future opportunities to apply for the EMPOWER (scholarship) program.
- Other ESL scholarships: There is not currently another known cohort-based ESL scholarship program "in the works." There are, however, individual scholarships available, including the Dr. Julia S. Austin Scholarship. For this and other scholarships, see Caran Kennedy's contact information below.
UAB's ESL Degrees
UAB offers two fully-online graduate degrees [a Master of Arts in Education (MAEd) in English as a Second Language (ESL) and an Educational Specialist (Eds) in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)] and two fully-online graduate certificates [Teaching Multilingual Learners and Teaching English as an Additional Language].
Contact Information
If you still have questions after exploring the resources on this webpage, please feel free to contact us.
Questions regarding EMPOWER [please note that the last scholarship cohort has already been filled and there are no future opportunities to apply for the EMPOWER (scholarship) program]
Aileen McElwain, Program Manager
aileenmc@uab.edu
Questions regarding UAB's ESL Graduate Degree programs/tracks
Dr. Josephine Prado, ESL Program Director and Associate Professor of EL Teacher Education
jprado@uab.edu
Questions regarding other possible scholarships or other types of programs at UAB
Caran Kennedy, Director of Recruitment, Scholarships, Student Engagement (UAB School of Education and Human Sciences)
carankennedy@uab.edu