Education Commons^™

The Transformation Of Rural Elementary Classroom English Language Teachers During Distance Learning: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Cecilia Frazier Salzer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the transformation of rural elementary classroom teachers who transitioned to distance learning with English learners (ELs) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the California Central Valley. The theory guiding this study is Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. At the same time the conceptual framework is Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK), as both will ascribe meaning to how EL teachers transformed their perspectives, assumptions, feelings, and judgments while conducting distance learning. The research question guiding this study is: What transformation did teachers experience while providing distance learning instruction to rural elementary English …

Establishing Scope And Sequence For Newcomers And English Learners, Tyler Robyn

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Research findings show that English Learners are the fastest growing subgroup in American public schools. It is the responsibility of the public schools to provide an appropriate and supportive education to these students. Past studies have also examined the history of English learners and the unique challenges they pose, newcomer programs, English learners’ inclusion in the mainstream classroom, and strategies for teaching English learners. With research findings in mind, a school improvement plan was created to revise a current ESL program in a rural Iowa school district to increase student achievement in language acquisition and core content knowledge. This plan …

Effectiveness Of English Learners Computer-Based Testing Accommodations: A Meta-Analysis, Tuba Gezer Dr., Claudia Flowers, Richard Lambert

Journal of English Learner Education

With the increased number of English learners (ELs) participating in large-scale state testing, there has been an increased focus on fairness in testing for these students. Test accommodations have shown promise in eliminating barriers and improving accessibility, and computer-based testing (CBT) allows individual customization of tests with built-in accessibility features. Most research on testing accommodations focuses on paper-based tests, but CBT is the most predominant mode of delivering large-scale state assessments. This study aims to synthesize research on the validity and effectiveness of CBT accommodations for EL students. Meta-analysis methodology was used to summarize the findings from previous CBT studies. …

Co-Teaching For English Learners, Fabiola Addink

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study investigated the effects of a co-teaching model on English learners’ academic performance and confidence levels in the general education classroom in a public middle school in Northwest Iowa. The research participants were five seventh-grade English learners with varying English proficiency levels. Students completed a survey before and after a co-teaching model was implemented to determine their confidence level in a general education social studies classroom. Using data from content and cognitive skill rubrics, a comparison of growth was made between a semester without a co-teaching model and a second semester with a co-teaching model. Findings of …

Explanation Needed: Understanding The Low Graduation Rates Of Spanish-Speaking English Learners In Southeastern Louisiana, Alice I. Garcia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative research study used the case study method of one-on-one interviews to collect and examine the experiences of former English learners (ELs) who were unable to finish high school in southeastern Louisiana. This study aimed to identify specific factors that, using Everett Lee’s theory, pushed or pulled these ELs from school and affected their ability to graduate. The push factors that were identified included language, inadequate support, academic performance, discrimination, and lack of connection with school and culture. Pull factors that were identified included lack of prior education, immigration, poverty, pregnancy, being far from family, financially supporting family, and …

Effects Of Synchronous And Asynchronous Online Instructional Approaches On English-Learning Undergraduate College Students: An Exploratory Study, Ivana Markova, Cristina Azocar

Journal of English Learner Education

Although the significance of the use of online classes remains evident due to their growing prevalence at US universities, they still remain an untested experience for countless English learners (ELs). This research explores EL students’ perceptions of the opportunities for interaction in synchronous and asynchronous online university classroom modalities. It also examines how socioacademic relations and Bandura’s social learning theory can explain the interactions between students and instructors that influence EL students’ literacy development. Participants (n=105) were selected from a large sample pool of 261 EL undergraduate student participants aged 18 to 35. A mixed methods design was …

Technology In The Classroom: The Features Language Teachers Should Consider, Sophie Cuocci, Padideh Fattahi Marnani

Journal of English Learner Education

The fast development of technology and the new generation of highly computer literate students led to consider the integration of technology in school as essential. Throughout the last two decades, research has identified multiple factors leading to the successful and unsuccessful integration of technology in the classroom. Educators must consider these factors when deciding on which technology tools to use and how to integrate them to their lessons. Simultaneously, the increasing number of English learners in the United States calls for the identification of teaching strategies that will best support their needs. Many language teachers now rely on teaching techniques …

California's Impact Of Attrition Practices On Latinx English Learners, Dulce Ramirez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone examines the impact of attrition practices on Latinx English learners in California. The project explores three recommendations from Guadalupe Valdes' book, Learning and Not Learning English. The three are age-appropriate academic content, revolving door policies involving classification/ reclassification, and the importance of teacher preparation. The discussion covers how the three impact English learners' attrition rate, causing negative self-efficacy, lack of college preparedness, and employment opportunities. Given this, the school districts allocated funding to create programs to prevent attrition problems among English learners, including the Latinx ELs. The literature review and interviews with educators indicated that Latinx English learners' …

Addressing English Learner Teacher Shortage: Conceptualizing Collaborative Efforts Between K–12 Schools And Higher Education, Rui Niu-Cooper, Tom Reeder, Mayda Bahamonde-Gunnell, Shirley Johnson, Carol Lautenbach

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

With the rapid increase of English Learners (ELs) in K–12 schools, school districts are struggling to find ways to meet the needs for EL teachers. One approach to address the shortage is to build teacher capacity by collaborating with higher education institutions where English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher preparation programs are offered. However, such collaborations are expensive to local schools due to the credit hours that those programs require.

In this paper, comparing the contexts in the State of Michigan and the State of New York, we describe a partnership experience between a university in Michigan and its …

Reaching The Standard: An Action Research Study On Standards-Based Grading Practices And English Learners, Dylan D’Anthony L. Orot

Theses and Dissertations

With the advent of standards-based education and its focus on English proficiency, English learners are at-risk of falling further behind when compared to their English adept peers because educators find themselves ill-equipped to meet the rigorous demands of such a curricular shift. This study aimed to identify pedagogical practices that bolster a standards-based grading (SBG) curriculum for sheltered English learners. Qualitative data from teacher participants and students, such as interviews and observations, were used to create a novel curriculum for sheltered English learners, centered on standards-based grading practices, and examine that curriculum’s effectiveness in helping teachers and their sheltered English …

Middle School Students Communicating Computational Thinking: A Systemic Functional Linguistics-Case Study Of Bilingual, Collaborative Teaching/Learning Of Computer Programming In Python, Jose Antonio Lecea Yanguas

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This dissertation presents the first Systemic Functional Linguistics-based analysis of the teaching/learning of computational thinking through computer programming and comprehensive analysis of discourse of a whole computer programming course at any educational level. The current educational research raises questions about the nature of authentic computational

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thinking teaching/learning environments and how they happen moment-to-moment. In one such environment, I examined the discourse of a facilitator, three students, and their Language Arts teacher in an introductory middle school after-school course (approximately 30 hours) in spring 2017 as students created a video in Python.

Methodologically, I show how a Systemic Functional Linguistics-based …

No One Is Ever Going To Acknowledge The Language That You Speak”: A Discourse Historical Approach To The Construction Of English Learners’ Identity In Federal Policy, Nicoleta Hodis

Theses and Dissertations

Using the discourse historical approach (DHA), this thesis examined how actors from diverse educational settings (federal, state, and districts) discursively constructed the identity of the English learners (ELs) during the appropriation of new educational policy (i.e., ESSA of 2015). This study intended to understand how both “human” and “non-human” educational actors (i.e., the texts of the educational policy and the key actors responsible for the appropriation of the ESSA of 2015) construct and position the identity of ELs in relations of power and knowledge and how the macro-policy discourse shapes how policies are interpreted at the meso- and micro-level. …

Fifty Definitions Of English Learner: A Proposed Solution To Inconsistent State-By-State Systems In The United States For Classifying Students Who Speak English As A Second Language, Rolf Straubhaar, Pedro R. Portes

Educational Considerations

Although nearly one in 10 U.S. students is an English Learner (or EL), the definition of the term EL varies considerably from state to state, as does the means of assessing English language proficiency and the period of time for which the label is applied to individual students. As EL populations are growing throughout the U.S., both in school systems familiar with teaching ELs and in systems that do not have such experience, it is urgent that the methods by which this population is identified and by which its needs are met in acquiring English language proficiency are backed up …

Do They Make A Difference? Twin Cities Magnet Schools In The Heart Of Metropolitan Inequity And Segregation, Scott A. Thomas

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Magnet schools have served as one of the most important and widely-used desegregation tools throughout the United States. Each district, region, and state have varying degrees of implementation, policies, and goals for such schools; however, robust evidence of their effectiveness is needed. This study examines a single school district in Minnesota that uses magnet schools to meet a state desegregation order where five elementary magnet schools and five control schools were identified to understand the impact the magnet “treatment” has on achievement for students of color, English learners, and students receiving special education services. This multivariate comparative study uses the …

Els In A Michigan 9-12 School: Educators’ Perceptions And Cultural Considerations, Melissa Lynn Dean

Masters Theses

This research investigates the perceptions of administrators and specialists in one diversely enrolled Michigan secondary school. Particularly, the purpose was to determine to what extent English learners (ELs), especially those of non-Western backgrounds, are being accommodated and considered by educators and policy. To examine this, three participants were successfully recruited- a language acquisition administrator, a language acquisition specialist, and an assistant principal. They were then each interviewed once to learn of their perceptions and beliefs on these topics. This research finds that although administrators and specialists may be knowledgeable and advocate for their ELs in creative and culturally competent ways, …

Bilingual Refugee-Background Student Resilience, Meta-Linguistic Awareness, And Pride In Bilingual Skills, Tunde Szecsi Dr., Debra Giambo, Rachel Bledsoe Bass, William Buchanan

Journal of English Learner Education

This qualitative phenomenological study sought to explore the experiences of emergent bilingual refugee-background [1] students in Florida and their self-perceptions as bilingual learners. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seven participants learning English both in-person and virtually in high school or adult education programs during the pandemic. The researchers completed content analysis individually and, in subsequent collaboration, identified patterns, and themes. Findings indicated that students took pride in their bilingual skills, demonstrated metalinguistic awareness, and were resilient and proactive learners with strong determination to succeed in the new country. The following recommendations for teachers are offered: (1) building …

Making It To The Next Grade: How Elementary School Principals Make Sense Of Grade Retention Policies For English Learners, Lynmara Colón

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Critical approaches to policy suggest that policy, even in the most apparently democratic polity or institution, codifies and extends the interests of those who disproportionately wield power (Levinson et al., 2009). While many people are involved in conversations and decisionmaking processes related to the implementation of grade retention or promotion policies, the final decision is made at the school level. Critics of grade retention, meanwhile, also warn that retained students may be harmed by stigmatization, reduced expectations for their academic performance on the part of teachers and parents, and the challenges of adjusting to a new peer group (Schwerdt et …

Graphic Novels For Multimodal Learning: Equity For English Learners, Katherine Suender, Susan Piazza

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article provides a synthesis of current research and theory that makes a case for using graphic novels to improve adolescent literacy achievement through multimodal, equitable learning opportunities for English learners (ELs) while meeting the required English Learner Proficiency Standards (ELPS). Supported by multimodal theory and culturally responsive teaching (CRT) approaches, research shows that graphic novels are inspirational teaching tools for adolescent ELs to engage more deeply with reading and writing. Specific recommendations for classroom use of graphic novels include a focus on a) motivation and engagement, b) discussions, c) visual information, and d) multimodal composition. Educators can make use …

Language Assessment Literacy: Analyzing The Perspectives Of Mainstream Teachers Toward English Learners, Tunde Szecsi, Janka Szilagyi

Journal of English Learner Education

This qualitative phenomenological study explores mainstream classroom teachers’ language assessment literacy as it relates to English learners. In Southwest Florida, Fifty-five teachers were interviewed about their knowledge and use of English language proficiency assessments in mainstream classrooms. We conducted content analysis of the individual interviews and field note data. The findings indicated that teacher’s knowledge of language proficiency assessments includes: (a) awareness of language proficiency assessments, (b) one size fits all: misuse of content assessment, (c) language proficiencies confined solely to reading skills, and (d) preference for formative assessment. Findings also indicated that teachers’ limited use of language assessment results …

Examining The Value Of Online Intercultural Exchange (Oie) In Cultivating Agency-Focused, (Inter)Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Pedagogy: A Story Of One Collaborative International Project For English Learners, Zuzana Tomas, Margita Vojtkulakova, Nikola Lehotska, Marie Schottin

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article makes two contributions to culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy for English learners (ELs). First, we argue for the value of expanding cultural responsiveness to include an intercultural framing that not only cultivates ELs’ pride in their multicultural heritage, but also fosters their identities and capacities as global citizens. Second, we make a case for foregrounding student agency as a necessary prerequisite for what has been conceptualized as the ultimate goal of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: to be able to maintain one’s cultural practices, while simultaneously learning how to critique dominant power structures (Paris & Alim, 2017). We illustrate how …

Policy And Practice Brief 6: Considerations For Using Access Test Scores In Decision-Making, Carolyn N. Waters, Merc English Learner Research & Evaluation Team, Virginia Commonwealth University

MERC Publications

Since the implementation of The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), all students identified as English learners (ELs) in U.S. public schools have been required to take an annual assessment of English language proficiency (ELP) for federal accountability. Virginia and many other state education agencies (SEAs) use the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs© test (ACCESS), not only to comply with this mandate, but also to inform a variety of high-stakes decisions for EL instruction, such as determining when multilingual learners have reached English proficiency, deciding about Language Instruction Educational Program (LIEP) entry and exit, informing classroom instruction and assessment, …

Engaging English Learners In Purposeful Discourse In Elementary Mathematics, Karlyn E. Davis-Welton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teachers are experiencing a change in practice, from teacher-centered to student-centered, which affects their work with English learners (ELs) in third through fifth grade mathematics classrooms. The implementation of student-centered discourse practices is essential to orchestrating productive mathematical discussions. However, the common practice is teacher-centered instruction where teacher talk is prevalent. Although the school district in this study provided professional development (PD) to address student-centered practices, PD for teaching ELs to interact in English in their mathematics classrooms remained to be addressed. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of teachers’ experiences with new discourse practices and …

Lessons From The Past And Challenges For The Future: Inclusive Education For Students With Unique Needs, William Evans, Robert A. Gable, Amany Habib

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

The school-age population of students is becoming increasingly more culturally and linguistically diverse. There is mounting recognition that English Learners (EL) represent a unique group of students who have special educational and linguistic needs. This article considered the needs of learners with diverse special needs such as (a) learning and behavior challenges and (b) English Learners identified as students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE). We highlighted some potential lessons to be learned from past-to-present efforts to serve students with behavior problems. Selected evidence-based practices were featured that are applicable to learners with special needs, thereby supporting the development …

Policy And Practice Brief 7: Special Considerations For Access Testing During Covid-19, Carolyn N. Waters, Merc English Learner Research & Evaluation Team, Virginia Commonwealth University

MERC Publications

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person instruction in Virginia public schools was suspended in March 2020 for the remainder of the school year. In 2020-2021, Virginia schools offered an evolving range of virtual, hybrid, concurrent, and face-to-face instruction. Despite the challenges of schooling during the pandemic, federal high-stakes testing mandates remained in place in 2020-2021, and all students identified as English learners (ELs) were still required to take the annual assessment of English language proficiency (ELP), the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs©. Since this test cannot be administered remotely, ELs participating in virtual schooling were expected to return to school buildings …

Collaborating With K-12 Partners: Improving Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy In Teaching Rural English Learners Science Through A Guided Experiential Learning Opportunity, Dana Manning, Erin Pearce

Journal of English Learner Education

With changing demographics in the United States, educator preparations programs (EPPs) must consider incorporating more experiential learning opportunities for preservice teachers to grow in their self-efficacy when working in diverse classrooms. At a rural university in the southern United States, researchers designed an instructional unit that transcended three educator preparation courses to provide an opportunity for students to design and deliver a 5E science lesson to English learners from a rural school district. The results from this study indicate that preservice teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching English learners increased as evidenced by the Teacher Sense of Self- Efficacy Scale, adapted for …

English Proficiency Or Post-School Success? The Miseducation Of English Learners, Jatnna Acosta

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

English learners in the U.S. are academically unprepared at the secondary level, ad such systemic barriers lead to limited opportunities for post-school success (Umansky, 2016). Additional research is necessary to examine the correlation between the impact of a school’s ethnic diversity on the academic achievement of students identified as ELs. The purpose of this study is to investigate the educational outcomes of ELs at the high school level as a result of the school’s ethnic diversity. This study provides quantitative data from the Ed-Data Education Data Partnership. The data is disaggregated by the ethnic diversity index, percentage of enrolled ELs …

Schools’ Civil Rights Obligations To English Learners: Leadership Perceptions On Key Issues, Pamela R. Schwallier

Dissertations

English Learners (ELs), who now represent nearly 10% of all K-12 public school students, 4.8 million of who speak over 400 different languages and dialects, continue to lack equitable educational opportunities as demonstrated through gaps in achievement outcomes, poor graduation rates, and identified systemic barriers related to the intersectionality of language, culture, race, and racism (Crump, 2014; DeMatthews & Izquierdo, 2017; Menken & Solorza, 2015; Morita-Mullaney, 2018; National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition [NCELA], 2015, 2018). This quantitative study captured over 800 K-12 educational leaders’ perspectives, via an anonymous electronic survey, on key issues regarding equitable programs for ELs that …

Engaging Middle School Emergent Bilinguals In Language Awareness: A Practitioner Researcher Study, Carol Lickenbrock

Dissertations

This practitioner research study (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009) traced the journey toward critical literacy of a group of seven emergent bilinguals and me, their teacher, over the course of a four-month unit on argument as part of our English for Speakers of Other Languages 3 (ESOL3) class. Many of these students, like many emergent bilinguals in the United States, had been disempowered because they had not had access to the academic texts of school. As part of this research, students worked with tools of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to analyze the interpersonal, ideational and textual metafunctions of argumentation in lessons …

Analysis Of Linguistic Inclusion In Tesol Courses For Teacher Candidates, Dylan Thibaut, Irina Mclaughlin

Journal of English Learner Education

According to TESOL standard 1, teacher candidates are required to have knowledge about language including: having knowledge in foreign language grammar and how English develops in ELLs (standard 1a), comprehension of language acquisition and how L1 influences learning (standard 1b), and understanding of the language process where an interlanguage develops as ELLs become comfortable using English (standard 1c) (TESOL International Association, 2018). To identify whether teacher candidates in TESOL courses are prepared to meet TESOL standards 1a, 1b, and 1c, a study was conducted to test one hundred teacher candidates’ knowledge of basic linguistic features of English and the five …

Sel For Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students, Sophie Cuocci, Rebeca Arndt

Journal of English Learner Education

There is abundant research about the benefits of SEL programs on social and emotional core competencies (e.g., increase in self-esteem, improvement of academic performance); however, general SEL programs are not necessarily designed with the English learners’ (ELs) needs in mind. Aiming at exploring valid and reliable SEL programs that meet the needs of the ELs, the article first examines the theoretical groundwork on which SEL is built upon. Next, this paper will first discuss Piaget’s, Vygotsky’s, and Dörnyei’s theories surrounding the cognitive, emotional, and sociocultural aspects involved in the learning process and language learning. It will then consider the needs …