Hutchison, Laveria F.2022-06-182022-06-18August 2022021-08August 202https://hdl.handle.net/10657/9358Background: In Texas, newcomer English learners who enroll in a public high school are placed in either an English as a Second Language program or in classes that use the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. Because these courses are expected to be taught in English, there is a disconnect between the program’s bilingual identity and instructional practices. Often, English as a Second Language teachers work in isolation and do not have the capacity to collaborate with other bilingual educators or qualified Sheltered English Instruction teachers. Therefore, with growing deficits among all of the most vulnerable populations due to COVID-19, the voices and perspectives of educators are a valuable tool in closing these learning gaps. Purpose: Minimal research has been conducted about the challenges high school English as a Second Language teachers face with instruction of newcomer English learners. In order to get a holistic picture of these challenges, asking English as a Second Language teachers to provide their perceptions and experiences is vital. Question: What are the perspectives of “English as a Second Language” teachers teaching secondary level newcomer English learners? Method: A narrative inquiry framework allowed the researcher to gather and retell the stories of the participants. Five participants were selected using a convenience sample from the researcher's social/professional network consisting of high school English as a Second Language teachers that taught newcomers. The focus was through the lens of lived experiences and challenges these teachers faced regarding the English as a Second Language program. These lived experiences were captured by conducting one round of individual semi-structured interviews with items designed in collaboration with an English as a Second language expert. After interviews were conducted, participants engaged in a member check interview to ensure their individual interviews' validity and accuracy. Finally, participants participated in a focus group to engage in discussion with other participants. All interviews and the focus group were recorded and transcribed. Thematic coding was utilized for identifying emerging themes among participants. The data analysis was checked for researcher bias by an educator familiar with English learner instruction. Findings: The study added to the literature of secondary bilingual education regarding teacher perceptions surrounding the English as a Second Language program. Three major themes emerged: 1. The importance of collaboration for teachers; 2. Support is needed for English as a Second Language teachers; and, 3. Teaching newcomer English learners is more than the standards and test scores. The findings suggested that participants’ perceptions and experiences of teaching high school newcomers before COVID-19 were isolating and lacking support at the district and state level. Consequently, the challenges that participants experienced were magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus creating an even larger gap for students and educators. Conclusion: High school English as a Second Language teachers need more support in creating and maintaining a culture of collaboration both on campus and district-wide to ensure the overall success of newcomers.application/pdfengThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).English learners, ESL, language acquisition, ESL teachers, secondary ESL, newcomers, high school newcomers2022-06-18Thesisborn digital