Dr. Florin Mihai and Dr. Kerry Purmensky of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures have just received a 5-year, 2.4 million dollar research grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA). Both are Co-Principal Investigators with Principal Investigator Dr. Joyce Nutta of the College of Education and Human Performance. This research grant, entitled Project MELTS (Micro-credentialing of English Learner Teaching Skills) and partnering with Pinellas County Schools will develop and research the effectiveness of 10 video-based modules. These modules of instructional skills will support elementary English learners at beginning, intermediate, and advanced English proficiency levels and will be implemented in eight teacher preparation courses taken at the beginning of a student’s junior year through student teaching.