Education Commons^™

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 …

Family Literacy And Engagement: A Framework, Hannah Wells

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this project was to construct a framework for a family literacy program that would inform parents of Native English Speakers and English Learners on literacy practices and allow time for families to practice literacy together. The family literacy program consists of three sessions, each comprised of a 20-minute presentation to parents and a 30-minute parent-child literacy activity. Each session covered a different topic: early literacy practices, technology and literacy, and advocating for student success. The program was implemented in an adult literacy center, where parents who attended classes at the center and parents in the …

Using American Sign Language To Support Sight Word Acquisition In English Learners, Kaitlin A. Woodrow, Susan Keesey, Christina Noel

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

English Learners constitute a growing, and important, portion of our school communities, yet the research base regarding evidence-based practices to support effective instruction for English Learners is minimal, especially for those with disabilities. American Sign Language has effectively supplemented curriculum for different student populations, but there has been little research on how sign language can be used to teach English Learners. Sight word acquisition is often a challenge for English Learners so this alternating treatment, single subject research design explored if adding American Sign Language to sight word instruction of first grade English Learners would increase learning of sight words …

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 …

The Seal Of Biliteracy: Considering Equity And Access For English Learners, Amy J. Heineke, Kristin J. Davin, Amy Bedford

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Seal of Biliteracy is a grass-roots language policy initiative that is sweeping across the United States. An award affixed to high school graduates’ transcripts and diplomas, the overarching purpose of the policy is to promote and foster students’ bilingualism and biliteracy in K-12 schools. Initiated in California in 2011, the policy has been modified significantly as stakeholders in 32 different states have drafted, passed, and enacted similar legislation in recent years. On its surface, the policy appears to hold promise in disrupting the monolingual norm prevalent in U.S. schools; however, with many states focusing efforts on world language education …

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 …

Locating The Possibilities For Upward Mobility: Educating English Learners In A Segmented Opportunity Structure, Lyndsie Marie Schultz

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Immigrant families often view education as the pathway for upward mobility in the U.S. However, the location of schooling for children impacts the quality of the education they receive and their subsequent opportunities for assimilation and upward mobility. The segmented assimilation model does not explain assimilation fully because it ignores the impact of education for English Learning (EL) children. This dissertation integrates opportunity structure literature into the segmented assimilation framework by focusing on the education available to ELs in the location of settlement to examine possibilities for EL assimilation in a more holistic manner. The first study looks at how …

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, …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Homework's Effects On English Learners, Peggy Smith

Dissertations

Purpose: Homework is an educational practice that has been implemented for many years. Research has shown that homework can have stringent effects on the well-being of students. To date, much of the research discusses the students’ and parents’ point of view on homework’s effects. Although teachers are the practitioners that develop and implement this practice, there is a dearth of research on teacher’s perspectives of homework’s effects on the well-being of students. Even less research has been carried out on teachers’ perspectives of homework’s effects on the well-being of English Learner Students. Since the goal of education is to provide …