Education Commons^™

The Roles Of School-Based Language Specialists: Implications For Ell Teacher And Speech-Language Pathologist Collaboration, Erica R. Solorio

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The field of education is a dynamic one due to the ever-changing demographics of the society it seeks to serve. Research has shown that the number of culturally and linguistically diverse students in schools is increasing. As a result, schools and educators need to meet the academic and linguistic needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Past research as also shown that Speech-Language Pathologists must differentiate between a language disorder or language difference when working with a culturally and linguistically student and they should collaborate with a bilingual interpreter or bilingual teacher during this process. However, much of the past …

In What Ways Do Language Lessons That Incorporate Student- And Teacher-Generated Gestures Support Language Learning In An 8th Grade Beginning-Level Spanish Classroom?, Simone Johnson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

In this six-week action research study, 18 participants between the ages of 12 and 14 were given four week-long gesture-based vocabulary lessons to determine the role that gestures have on L2 vocabulary acquisition in an eighth-grade beginning-level Spanish classroom. Each week, students were encouraged to learn and practice a list of vocabulary words using gesture-based activities, seeing that gestures, a form of embodied learning, has proven to positively affect L2 vocabulary acquisition and address the needs of diverse learners. The first and third lessons consisted of teacher-generated gestures, while the second and fourth were student-generated gesture-based lessons and the two …

A Coaching Framework: Supporting Mainstream Teachers In Incorporating Academic-Language Development For English Learners, Sarah K. Holty

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

It is challenging to meet the linguistic needs of English learners in mainstream classrooms, even for experienced and trained English-language-development teachers, and many mainstream teachers are minimally equipped to address language needs in the context of content instruction. Because English learner success in the mainstream classroom depends upon mastery of content together with proficiency in academic English, mainstream teachers need further professional development, tools, and resources in order to support English learners in their classrooms. This project proposes embedded professional development within a coaching structure focused on implementing academic-language development in mainstream instruction. Research shows that an instructional coaching model …

Engaging The Safety System Of The Brain: Training For Teachers Of Immigrants Who Have Experienced Trauma, Lindsey Grace Crifasi

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has shown that trauma makes changes in our brain chemistry. In the space of teaching and learning, these changes can inhibit students from reaching their goals effectively. This research focused on addressing the questions: What are the key aspects of trauma-informed teaching, specifically for the immigrant population? What happens to the brain when it is dealing with trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or grief and how does that affect learning? With inspiration from Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, Body and the Healing of Trauma and studies into the Polyvagal Theory …

Incorporating Linguistic Analysis And Processes Into English As A Second Language Instruction, Signy Kirsten Sherman

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this paper and project was: how can an online professional development resource and community for teachers support understanding of using Linguistic Analysis and processes to deepen an educators understanding of a student’s native language (L1) in order to develop more effective instruction in the second language (L2)? Key influences included Jim Cummins and Maggie Tallerman (2015) Understanding Syntax from which the descriptive approach adopted was derived from. Additional influences included, case studies conducted by researchers such as Ronald Sheen and Lin and Chuan has shown that students can benefit from instruction informed by information derived …

Meaningful Family Engagement In Schools: Karen Family Perspectives, Emily Mattson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to examine how meaningful family engagement with schools is perceived by Karen families. In-home interviews, a focus group, and school event sign-in forms were used to collect data. Families were asked to reflect on their experiences with their child’s school, how they felt involved, supported, and what more they would like to see offered in regards to support and engagement. Results showed that the families perceived meaningful family engagement to be culturally relevant, relational, and as being equipped with resources that empower them to support their children. Furthermore, the data collected from event …

How Can General Education Teachers Learn To Build Positive Relationships With El Students By Integrating El Best Practice Strategies Into Their Teaching?, Philip Dennison

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project was, how can general education teachers learn to build positive relationships with EL students by integrating EL best practice strategies into their teaching? This project involves a teacher’s creation of a project directed at educating other teaching staff on how to create and develop positive relationships with language learner students. The project made use of Knowles best practices in adult education to make the most effective use of time when addressing adult learners. The author describes the process of building and then delivering the project content. He also reflects on the successes, limitations, …

Culturally Responsive Curriculum And Literature For Primary Grade English Learners, Katherine Behrend

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and learning is being implemented in many school districts to better meet the needs of all students. Using culturally authentic literature is equally important. Research demonstrates the need for culturally authentic texts so students can see themselves mirrored and see windows to other cultures during school. English learners (ELs) benefit from seeing their culture in the texts they are exposed to as well as culturally responsive learning strategies, or protocols. According to the CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019), non-majority ethnicities represent a small percentage of all children’s literature …

Sheltered Secondary Slife And Effective Instruction, Mackenzie Burkstrand

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Within the population of English language learners, there is a unique subgroup of students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE). These students bring with them unique qualities to school, balancing the need for English language acquisition and learning a new culture. Through this capstone project, I sought to answer the question, what are the key components to effective instruction to use with students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) at the secondary level? Throughout this capstone project, the main themes that arose in research were culturally relevant instruction and trauma informed pedagogy. The information I have learned in …

Increasing Opportunities For Academic Talk For English Learners In The General Education Classroom, Brianna Pontinen O’Brien

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The purpose of this capstone project is to address the question, how can teachers increase opportunities for quality academic talk for English Learners in the general education classroom? This was answered by researching data pertaining to the population of English learners in United States public schools, as well as, how historical context, issues of social justice, and sociolinguistic factors all affect English learners. Included in the research is also theories, definitions, and the importance of academic talk for productive learning. Several methods for increasing academic talk in the general education classroom are discussed, specifically Accountable Talk with Talk Moves ( …

Slife Students And Teacher Preparedness, Makayla Marie Bozoian

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This project aims to solve the issue that many English Language Learner Teachers face when it comes to their English Language Learners. Many immigrant students also come from a home where the language usually spoken is one other than English, or who speak a language other than English but also have experienced interrupted schooling, also known as SLIFE students (MN Department of Education, 2019). Using the works of EL methodology to best prepare teachers though the practices of the Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm (MALP), along with culturally relevant ideas to approach vocabulary and assessment instruction used by Beck and Gottlieb …

Barriers That Impede The Progress Of Cld Families Entering And Navigating The Special Education System, Julia Zanabria

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone seeks to address the barriers that Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) families face when navigating the Special Education system; and best practices for overcoming those barriers. Research finds that when educators and CLD families can work together, students who are being referred to Special Education will have their needs better met. In order for this collaboration to take place however, educators must practice cultural humility as means of gaining trust from CLD families. The findings of this research also highlight the many misconceptions around Special Education that CLD families may possess. These misconceptions often lead to a negative …

The Roles And Identities Of English As A Second Language Teacher Leaders, Madeline Benson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Due to rising numbers of English Learners (ELs) nationwide, mainstream teachers are increasingly called upon to meet the needs of their ELs without adequate preparation to do so (Correll, 2016). In an effort to address these needs, the English Learners in the Mainstream (ELM) Project trains English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers to assume a leadership role in their buildings. Through a model of peer instructional coaching, ESL teachers provide professional development for their mainstream colleagues. The goal of this study was to answer the following questions:

1) After being trained as teacher leaders, do ESL teachers experience a …

A Professional Development Presentation For Code-Switching, Patsy Lee

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Lee, P. A Professional Development Presentation for Code-Switching (2019) Code-switching is a nationwide phenomenon that occurs to give meaning to their listeners. This happens especially in the classroom in the education realm. With the increased diversity of languages within schools, this capstone project seeks to bring awareness of this occurrence to the public of everyday professionals who are working within the realm of education. It seeks to identify the occurrences of when code-switching happens and the reasoning for it. It addresses theories, methods and framework of code-switching, such as the Markedness Model and Culturally Responsive Teaching. In the Markedness Model, …

Strategies To Enhance The Positive Effects Of Bilingualism, Danielle Mcmillan

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Supporting bilingual students is critical not only for the bilingual students but also for monolingual students. Prominent bilingualism in the classroom can translate to higher test scores, increased engagement, and long-term impacts on brain agility. This capstone project seeks to answer the question: What strategies are available to educators to enhance the positive effects of bilingualism in their students? The final result of this project is a website which includes a series of strategies focused on the four domains of language which seeks to meet the educational needs of both bilingual and mainstream students. The website includes a description of …

Content Specific Math Instruction To Improve English Language Learners' Comprehension Of Comparison Math Word Problems, Abigail Snyder

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project was, how can math instruction and comprehension of comparison word problems for ELL students be enhanced through content specific vocabulary on, many, more, and fewer, and combinations of these words? The research demonstrated a need for vocabulary knowledge for English Language Learners to comprehend mathematical word problems and acquire academic English. The project involved creating a ten day vocabulary unit addressing strategies for learning vocabulary found in the research. The Understanding by Design process was used in creating this project. This project utilizes the Math Expressions curriculum by Fuson (2009), utilized in the …

What Advantages Can Be Leveraged By Offering A Spanish For Heritage Learners Class As An Elective To Spanish Speaking Long-Term English Language Learners In Middle School?, Claire Milne

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

There is increasing evidence of academic underachievement in school-age Spanish speaking emerging bilingual students - the largest second language speaking group in the USA. Research in the field of heritage language learning has been ongoing since the 1970s. Most research has been concentrated at the elementary school level. This capstone seeks to answer the question of what advantages can be leveraged by offering a Spanish for Heritage Learners class as an elective to Spanish speaking long-term English language learners in middle school. Research is reviewed on themes of long-term English language learners, bilingual literacy, academic self concept and cultural identity. …

Comprehensible Input And Output In The Math Immersion Classroom: A Professional Development Series, Kimberly Kulhanek

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The one-way immersion classroom provides a unique environment for students to learn content through instruction in their non-native language. However, students in early elementary grades typically have not had enough exposure to the target language to maintain sentence-level dialogue. The professional development series designed for this project uses the concepts of growth mindset, cognitively guided instruction, comprehensible input, and comprehensible output to increase students' ability to process and explain their mathematical thinking in the target language. Both growth mindset and cognitively guided instruction have been used in classrooms for years, but there has been little research into their implementation in …

Working With Hispanic Learners: Information And Strategies For Educators, Katie Stalberger

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The overall Hispanic population in the U.S. has been and is projected to continue to increase. In line with this population trend, U.S. schools are also seeing increases in Hispanic students. National test scores indicate there is a long standing achievement gap between Whites and Hispanics. This achievement gap shows that the academic needs of Hispanics are different from their peers of other ethnicities. This capstone has sought to answer the question: what specific home, school, and second language acquisition strategies and interventions are successful in helping Hispanic students perform so that they are not at risk, or underachieving? The …

Creating A Website That Provides Classroom Teachers With Resources And Tools To Develop A Language-Rich Classroom, Elodie Sontgerath

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The guiding question of this project is, How can a professional development resource help classroom teachers create a language-rich environment that can support the development of academic language for all learners? In order to answer this question, I created a website to support language understanding, teaching, and learning in an urban elementary school serving a diverse community of learners. This website is a practical tool for classroom teachers who need to develop a better understanding of what academic language is and acquire strategies to support and develop the language students need to engage effectively in classroom discussions and tasks. Classroom …

Workshop To Improve Parental Involvement For Somali Esl Parents, Adan Ali

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The guiding question addressed in this project was how can schools improve the involvement of Somali ESL parents? The aim of the project was to use a workshop model to discover further ways of improving the relationship between the school and the families. Somali ESL parents were targeted for this project because of cultural differences that limit their understanding of the American school system thus leading to low parental involvement. The project's content was influenced by parental involvement literature and Epstein's framework about the Six Types of Parental Involvement. The workshop content was delivered though facilitator-led presentations and group discussions …

Social Emotional Learning Curriculum And Manipulatives Designed For Deaf Hard Of Hearing Students From Diverse Home Languages, Meghan O'Donnell

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The population of students that are hard of hearing that come from multilingual homes is a distinct population that has specific needs. The purpose of this Capstone project is on how to better instruct students that are Deaf and Hard of Hearing that come from multilingual homes. After researching and discussing the difficulties and needs of this specific population, including Deaf and Hard of Hearing and English language learner definitions, environmental factors, teacher education, and best practices, the author determined that a way to support this population could be through communication tools for families and others for Deaf and Hard …

Medicare-Centered Curriculum For Limited English Proficient Beneficiaries, Jenny L. Chalupnik

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Medicare is the primary health insurance for retirees and those with disabilities in U.S. Currently there are tens of millions who access Medicare and its rate is projected to increase in the future. Medicare is composed of different Parts and there are rules for eligibility. Within the respective Parts a retiree needs to choose various options and as an additional layer, those Parts are offered by different insurers. Further, Medicare beneficiaries need to understand how the different Parts of Medicare work together and are financed, and who is responsible for paying for the different components and Parts. Retirees also need …

English Learners And Academic Speaking, Pamela Magistad

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This project sought to answer the guiding question; what educational strategies develop elementary EL students’ academic English speaking skills? The project documents the creation of a curricular unit designed to provide EL students with ample opportunity to speak academically. The guiding question originated from the author’s observation that her EL students were speaking infrequently within their mainstream classrooms, and also further musings regarding the prevalence of this infrequency along with the importance of and best practices for academic speaking. From the project, the author concluded that 1) EL students in both mainstream and EL classrooms often are not given opportunities …

High Interest Low Readability Books And Motivation In Chinese Classrooms, Renee Zhang

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this study was, how do high interest texts mediate Chinese middle school students’ reading comprehension? The author opens up this research territory by exploring four areas including the history of education in China, China’s examination system of high-stakes testing, L2 motivation, and classroom reading materials used at her school. The author focuses on interest as a factor and orientation towards intrinsic motivation, where high interest texts are used to mediate students’ reading experience and reading comprehension. Wigfield and Guthrie’s seminal work on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation along with Saddleback Educational hi-lo books influence the author’s …

Heritage Language Maintenance In An Urban Somali Community And Its Relationship To Academic Performance, Sarah Latzke

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This research project sought the answer to the question: Is there a correlation between the maintenance of Somali heritage language and academic performance in relation to national norms of urban Somali elementary students in a focus school? Key indicators of heritage language maintenance were determined through research and were identified as Family Language Policies, socioeconomic factors, prestige, identity, and motivation. The project focused on the collection of academic data and interviews of urban Somali parents, guardians, and students to determine if there is a relationship between heritage language maintenance and academic achievement. Interview data was coded and checked for reliability …

Greek Mythology Vocabulary Building, Samantha Levinson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The guiding question addressed in this Capstone is: How will the use of task-based vocabulary activities to support literacy development affect the vocabulary acquisition of elementary Korean English language learners? It documents one teacher’s curriculum development of two units that offer a new perspective to ELL vocabulary acquisition by building vocabulary using morphological training then access and build on background knowledge through practical applications which lead to higher comprehension. This project explores a) the role that task-based curriculum plays on literacy development focused on the development activities that supports the vocabulary development of elementary Korean English language learners using Greek …

Using Novels In The Science Classroom To Increase Literacy In Middle School Students, Elizabeth Mae Das

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Literacy in science is an important aspect of a student’s education. However, it is often not explicitly taught by teachers. The material chosen for reading is typically from a textbook, boring, and difficult to comprehend for most students due to the large number of low occurrence vocabulary words and sentence complexity. This is especially true of ELL students who are still developing their general vocabulary. This project was chosen after working in a school with a student population of over 90% ELL students who are mostly below grade level in reading. The research question for this project was how does …

Cultural Capital And English Language Learner Educational Outcomes, Maddie Kiley

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Through researching cultural capital, I was able to identify how cultural capital is developed and its impact on English Language Learners’ educational success. The underlying guiding question addressed throughout this project was: How can teachers be informed about cultural capital and its impact on students’ educational outcomes? Although there is a vast selection of research in the field, there has been little resource creation and implementation in response to what research would suggest as it relates to a teacher’s role in cultural capital development. To assist teachers in increasing English Language Learners’ capital, an activity resource was developed. The intent …

Oral Academic Discourse: How It Supports Educational Equity For Els In The Mainstream Classroom – A Professional Development Workshop For Mainstream Teachers Of Els, Ciera Nelson-Cheeseman

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Given the growing number of English language learners (ELs) in mainstream classrooms, teachers of these students will need to be increasingly prepared to meet both the content and language demands of these learners. This Capstone project consists of a 2-day professional development workshop for mainstream teachers of ELs. The project seeks to empower participants to combat issues of educational equity in classrooms through awareness of EL academic learning needs and the use of research-based, oral academic discourse strategies. These strategies, which include Productive Talk Moves, have been shown to effectively support the academic language needs of ELs in content-areas classrooms. …