Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Evaluating Middle School English Language Learners’ Science And Literacy Proficiency, Yasemin Ozkaya

Dissertations

The academic success and English proficiency of ELL students are receiving more attention as a result of the growing number of ELL students and the demand for accountability and assessment in education. It is widely accepted that ELL students struggle on state standardized tests because they lack the cognitive academic language abilities needed to succeed on extensive subject evaluations (Thakkar, 2013). According to Abedi and Dietel, ELLs' academic performance lags behind that of other segments of population, and the attainment gap reduces only slightly over time (2004).

The NWEA archival data of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who attended …

Innovative Teaching Practices To Accelerate Student Learning In The Areas Of Literacy And Science, Michelle Simmons, Paris Bouchard

Dissertations

The researchers of this joint dissertation aspired to create and implement innovative instructional practices that would accelerate student learning. Both researchers believed in the importance of experimenting with structures and processes that lead to instructional impact. They were both passionate about developing an instructional model that would accelerate student learning by focusing on student transfer of skills. They sought to answer the question, Can learning be accelerated when teachers are supported and encouraged to create and implement instructional practices grounded in research? One researcher studied a practice that would potentially increase students’ ability to think critically and problem solve using …