Education Commons^™

Using A Repeated Measures Anova Design To Analyze The Effect Writing In Mathematics Has On The Mathematics Achievement Of Third Grade English Language Learners And English Speakers, Zoe A. Morales

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The gap that exists between English language learners and English speaking students’ achievement in mathematics continues to grow. Moreover, students are now required to show evidence of their mathematics knowledge through writing in standardized assessments and class assignments.

The purpose of this study was to analyze students’ writing in mathematics and the metacognitive behaviors they portrayed through their writing as they solved mathematics problems. The instruments included a pretest, two biweekly tests, and a posttest. The writing instruction encompassed students learning to solve problems by using Polya’s four phases of problem solving which was completed in 12 sessions over a …

Developing Agency For Advocacy: Collaborative Inquiry-Focused School Change Projects As Transformative Learning For Practicing Teachers. The New Educator, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams

Kathryn Brooks

Many mainstream educators of English language learners (ELLs) have experienced neither adequate pre-service preparation nor appropriate in-service professional development. Yet, ELLs are one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States. While practicing teachers typically espouse the view that all students can learn, they often lack the knowledge and skills necessary to support ELLs in their academic and language development.This gap in preservice teacher education programs often leads general education teachers to rely heavily on bilingual paraprofessionals and language teachers for educating ELL students. This paper describes a 5-year professional development initiative, Project Alianza, during which the researchers …

Creating Conditions For Transforming Practicing K-12 Mainstream Teachers Of English Language Learners, Susan R. Adams, Kathryn Brooks

Kathryn Brooks

Critical incident reflection journal writing provides a rich source for identifying high impact components of Project Alianza, a graduate course for mainstream secondary teachers funded by a US Department of Education Title III Professional Development grant. In this narrative pilot study featuring one strand of existing data, the co-authors, who are also co-instructors and co-researchers, begin the first rounds of analysis to identify emerging key conditions and contributing factors featured within specialized graduate courses for encouraging dispositional change and professional efficacy toward English language learners (ELLs) in practicing K-12 mainstream educators. Using Mezirow’s adult transformational learning theory (1991), Kegan’s stage …

Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Kathryn Brooks

School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our considerations of broader systemic challenges that impact the success of ELLs in our schools. This article shares the dialogues that school administrators are having about ELL students and discusses the use of social justice and equity focused professional learning communities as a way to transform this discourse to address the broader …

English Language Learners In Title I Programs In New Mexico Public Schools, Gabriel C. Baca

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and subsequent reauthorizations require the United States Department of Education to distribute funding to states that ultimately goes to local school districts for the purpose of improving the academic achievement of disadvantaged students, including English Language Learners (ELLs). In New Mexico, 64% of public school students participate in Title I programs, and 16% of all New Mexico students are ELLs. However, no studies to date have explored how New Mexico public school districts are implementing Title I with respect to English Language Learners. Therefore, …

Transmigration Experiences Of Newcomers In The Context Of An English-Only Education: Sense-Making By Former Newcomer Ells, Elizabeth Paulsen Tonogbanua

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative interpretive study explored how former newcomer English Language Learners (ELLs) in Boston Public Schools (BPS) made sense of their transmigration experiences through a digital storytelling project. The study fills a gap on transmigration experiences in the context of English-only learning environments, with a particular orientation toward the value of students’ home languages, and in turn, cultures within an urban school setting. The immigrant student population in BPS continues to increase and teachers must be able to understand and plan for newcomers’ specific needs. To this end, my conceptual framework drew on four areas: general educators and their urban …

Impact Of Self-Selected Versus Prescribed Level Reading On Arabic Speaking Ell Students: A Mixed Methods Study, Manal M. Assi

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

IMPACT OF SELF-SELECTED VERSUS PRESCRIBED LEVEL READING ON ARABIC SPEAKING ELL STUDENTS: A MIXED METHODS STUDY

by

MANAL M. ASSI

May 2016

Advisor: Dr. Sandra Gonzales

Major: Curriculum and Instruction; English as a Second Language

Degree: Doctor of Education

This study uses the Accelerated Reader collection to find which reading model, reading within the Lexile range versus having the choice to read outside the Lexile range, will positively impact Arabic speaking eighth grade ELL students and improve their attitude towards reading. The study was conducted in a Title III charter school in the metro-Detroit area. Participants included six female …

The Experiences Of Grade 3 Literacy Teachers Teaching English Language Learners, Casaundra Joyce Howell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

English language learners (ELLs) at a public elementary school in the southeastern United States had not been passing state tests on literacy. Researchers have found that teachers must be adequately prepared to use instructional practices in mainstream classrooms to help ELLs increase language acquisition and pass state tests in literacy. The purpose of this case study was to examine the experiences of Grade 3 literacy teachers teaching ELLs in a mainstream classroom at the study elementary school in order to understand their instructional challenges. The conceptual framework was based on Bandura's social cognitive theory in order to understand how these …