Education Commons^™

Supporting English Learners In The General Classroom, Stephanie L. Gamble

Culminating Experience Projects

The American public school classroom is rapidly changing, and as a result the needs in the classroom are changing. According to the NYU Steinhart school of culture, the average K-12 public school classroom is made up of about 20% English language learners. Researchers predict that percentage will climb to 25% by the year 2025, making EL students the fastest growing population in American public schools (Staff, 2021). The purpose of my research was to find ways that educators can better reach these students and decrease the opportunity gap between these students and their peers. Teachers across the country are struggling …

Supporting English Learners Through Practice-Based Research, Catherine Lammert, Erica B. Steinitz Holyoke

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Learning to use critical practice-based research as part of teaching is an important goal for preservice teachers, especially for those who plan to teach English learners in linguistically diverse settings. In this study, we examine the experiences of preservice teachers who were introduced to a framework for enacting iterative, transformative action research, and used the framework to study their own teaching in a one-on-one writing partnership with young English learners. Using an established self-efficacy survey instrument, as well as qualitative measures such as course artifacts and observations of teaching, we conducted a mixed-methods study to examine the impact of research …

The Case For Grammar: What Preservice Teachers Need To Know About Metalinguistic Awareness, Aimee Schoonmaker, Kerry L. Purmensky

Journal of English Learner Education

The present study focused on preservice teachers’ grammar knowledge and its importance for their future students’ understanding and use of language, particularly English Learners. This quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest study investigated the grammar knowledge of preservice teachers who were enrolled in an undergraduate applied linguistics course at an urban university in the southern United States. The results confirmed prior research which found that preservice teachers are not knowledgeable enough about English grammar when explaining sentence level errors. This study demonstrated that preservice teachers’ basic understanding of English grammar can be increased in a short time, particularly in the recognition of simple …

Increasing Engagement Of English Learners Through Universal Design For Learning, Melinda S. Eichhorn, Amanda E. Lowry, Kristen Burke

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

English learners (ELs) are the fastest growing segment of K–12 students. When ELs do not respond to instruction as quickly as their English-speaking peers, teachers may focus on their deficits and wrongly label them as having a learning disability. In this article on the universal design for learning engagement guidelines, we summarize how we have anticipated learning barriers and increased engagement with academic content for ELs in our practice. By teaching strategies for self-regulation and individual coping skills, providing guided practice and support to sustain effort, and giving students various ways to achieve the same goal in a safe learning …

Integrating Faith And Learning: Preparing Teacher Candidates To Serve Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students, Tatiana M. Cevallos

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

This essay examines how liberation theology and critical pedagogy inform the integration of faith and learning of a teacher educator who felt called to serve culturally and linguistically diverse students in the United States. The essay provides a brief cultural background of the educator’s journey from instructional assistant in an English learner program to teacher educator at a Christian University. The essay explains how liberation theology and critical pedagogy provide a coherent framework for preparing teacher candidates to work with English learners in public schools.

Expanding Capacity To Serve Multilingual Learners: A University-School District Partnership, Beth Clark-Gareca, Kim Fontana

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

In a time of new teacher certification requirements in New York, school districts are grappling with how to meet the regulatory expectations imposed by Commissioner’s Regulations Part 154. One way that schools are solving staffing challenges is by forging new collaborations with university partners to expand their collective capacities to serve Multilingual learners (MLLs). In this article, we document a partnership between SUNY New Paltz’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program and the Pawling Central School District during the 2017-18 academic year. We describe the partners’ distinct roles in the university-district collaboration, and discuss the logistical considerations …

Graphic Mathematical Mediated Structure: The Link For Hispanic/Latino And English Learners' Mathematical Success, Sylvia Casteloes

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This project’s goal is to promote and improve the mathematical literacy of fourth-grade Hispanic/Latino and English learners through the use of a graphic mathematical mediated structure. Current California Common Core data finds fourth-grade Hispanic/Latino and English learners significantly behind White and Asian students in mathematics, especially in understanding written word problems.

Research supports the assumption that as a tool, a graphic mathematical mediated structure could: 1) foster conceptual understanding; 2) build content terminology; 3) allow students opportunities to justify their solutions; 4) integrate writing in math; and 5) provide a platform for discourse. This innovative pedagogical project specifically focused on …

Best Practices For The Development Of English Language In Rural Elementary Schools In Prevention Of Long Term English Learners, Heather Christine Gomez

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the best practices of English language development programs in rural South San Joaquin Valley elementary schools in the targeted areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking and best practices in teacher professional development to prevent Long Term English Learners from the perspective of principals. An additional purpose was to identify and describe obstacles to the implementation of best practices of English language development in rural South San Joaquin Valley elementary schools from the perspective of principals.

Methodology: Through data analysis, rural elementary schools in South San Joaquin Valley were identified …

Vocabulary Acquisition For Els, Sarah Johnson

Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Literacy

Researchers have shown a gap in the vocabulary development of children based on socioeconomic status, as well as an increase in the number of students in American public schools that qualify as English Learners (ELs). Based on previous studies showing that vocabulary acquisition is related to increased reading comprehension and academic success, the aim of the present study was to determine for the most effective strategies for vocabulary acquisition using an interactive read aloud routine. Using Vygotsky’s social constructivism as the theoretical framework, we examined the effectiveness of these strategies in an action research project with seven second grade ELs, …

Language Culture Wars: Effects Of Language Policy On Language Minorities And English Learners, Ambar A. Perez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the intertextuality of language policy, K-12 TESL pedagogies, and EL identity construction in the perpetuation of unjust TESL practices in these contexts. By examining the power structures of English language ideology through critical discourse analysis of recent California language policy, this thesis demonstrates English language teaching’s intrinsically political nature in K-12 education through negotiations and exchanges of power. Currently, sociolinguistic approaches to TESL and second language acquisition acknowledge the value of language socialization teaching methods. This requires the acceptance of cognition, not as an individual pursuit of knowledge containment and memorization, but cognition as a collaborative and …

Teachers' Perceptions On English Language Arts Proficiency Of English Learners, Elaine Michelle Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

English learners (ELs) at a middle school in California were not meeting federal accountability requirements in English language arts (ELA). ELs lacking proficiency in ELA often drop out of high school and live in poverty as adults. The purpose of the study was to examine teachers' perceptions of their self-efficacy to implement effective pedagogical strategies to help ELs develop ELA proficiency. A case study design was used to investigate the problem through the lens of second language acquisition theory. The purposeful sample included 11 middle school language arts teachers. Participants completed an online anonymous survey, and responses were analyzed using …

Dyad Reading Experiences Of Second-Grade English Learners With Fiction And Nonfiction Texts, Michelle Lynn Klvacek

Theses and Dissertations

Dyad reading, a modified version of the Neurological Impress Method, does not seem to be widely used, although it appears to have the potential to support students at multiple levels of reading proficiency. Dyad reading was implemented in this study with two second-grade English Learners (ELs) paired with English-proficient partners using both fiction and nonfiction texts. This qualitative study employed an action research method, using the following data sources: video observations, student interviews, weekly dyad observations, anecdotal notes, and weekly written reflections.

This study reveals that implementing dyad reading is complex. Participants needed modeling and practice with dyad reading procedures, …

Influence Of Siop Cognitive Coaching Workshops On Teaching Practices Of Esl Teachers And Esl Paraprofessionals, Ruben Alicea

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore and report on the influence that cognitive coaching, as an embedded part of professional development, has on ESL teachers' and ESL paraprofessionals' learning and practice in the context of educating English learner (EL) students using the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model of instruction. An examination was made on the views of 52 ESL teachers and paraprofessionals regarding participation in a series of 12 professional development workshops, use of cognitive coaching, and implementation of the SIOP with their EL students. As part of their participation in the professional development, self-reflection data were …

Does Religious Behavior Predict Academic Success For English Learners?, Jeanmarie Hamilton Boone

Jeanmarie Hamilton Boone

This study examined the religious practices and behaviors of predominantly Hispanic high school English learners to determine whether their religious behaviors, such as attending church, enjoying church attendance and wearing religious symbols were associated academic achievement. In the sample of 126 primarily Christian students, religiosity was determined not to be associated with academic achievement.