Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Context-Focused Grammar Teaching: A Comparison Between English Present Perfect And Past Tenses And Affects On Korean English Learning, Seungheui (Ellie) Lee

ECTESOL Review

Despite massive amounts of time Korean English Learners (KLL) study English grammar, they continue to have problems becoming proficient in verb tenses, especially the present perfect. This study examines this problem through a linguistic comparative analysis of Korean and English present perfect and past tenses. Two possible reasons for KLL difficulty with verb tenses could be mode of instruction and L1 interference.

Not “One China,” Not “One Culture”: Multicultural Exploration Of Differences And Similarities Between Mainland China And Taiwan, Philip J. Ward, Michelle Loo

ECTESOL Review

This study focuses on the outwardly similar cultures of Taiwan and mainland China and the subtle differences within them. The study was conducted as part of the requirements of doctoral program in Instructional Design and Development at a public university in the southeastern United States. Using a qualitative case study approach, the study demonstrates that there are cultural similarities between mainland China and Taiwan, however instructors should also be aware of the differences when developing relationships with students and developing course content. A mini-workshop was developed for the study to help teach instructors about the two cultures. However, the mini-workshop …

Proposed: Technical Communicators Collaborating With Educators To Develop A Better Efl Curriculum For Ecuadorian Universities, Daniel Jack Williamson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

This policy and action research in the form of a case study of language policy in Ecuador posits, with a pragmatic view, that students’ backgrounds, prior knowledge, and learning objectives should significantly impact curriculum development. Applying principles of information development, such as conducting usability studies and generating appropriate user profiles, technical communicators produce user-friendly documentation. Pairing technical communicators with educators to collaborate in the parallel processes of information development and curriculum development may yield instructional materials more useful to students than currently available materials are. An etic perspective is appropriate for this study for it does not presuppose what the …

Using Multiple Instructional Mediums To Foster Critical Literacy Skills With The Adult Lingusitic Diverse Learner, Kaemanje Thomas

Publications and Research

Critical reading is the apex of tertiary education and the chief focus in higher education courses as they prepare adults for the workforce. Without significant improvements in academic preparation and support, many linguistically diverse [LD] students will have higher dropout rates in their first year of college. Developmental reading instruction practices are designed to emphasize moving the first-year LD students from sub-par reading levels towards the application and development of critical reading skills, as demanded by their college courses. Many community colleges across the United States, prepare assessments tests in reading and mathematics for most, if not all, newly admitted …

Masking The Focus On English Learners: The Consequences Of California’S Accountability System Dashboard Results On Year 4 Local Control And Accountability Plans (Lcaps), Magaly Lavadenz Ph.D., Professor, Elvira G. Armas Ed.D., Associate Director, Sylvia Jáuregui Hodge M.Ed., Doctoral Fellow

Reports

California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), signed into law in 2013, centers equity as a key to increased and improved services for three targeted student subgroups, including English Learners (ELs), low-income students, and foster youth. As a component of LCFF, districts develop Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) to specify their goals and strategies for using LCFF funds for equity and continuous improvement purposes. The California Model Five by Five Grid Placement Report (Spring 2017 Dashboard) included the Five by Five Placement Grid, a key function of which is to identify the needs of diverse ELs. The Dashboard and the …

Educators Must Be Advocates: Advocating For Muslim Students, Terri L. Rodriguez, Laura Mahalingappa, Megan Evangeliste, Lauren Thoma

Education Faculty Publications

As educators interested in supporting linguistically and culturally diverse learners, we have had to view our roles in different ways since the presidential campaign and the election of Trump. In this article, two teacher educators and two inservice ESL teachers in the U.S. reflect on our various experiences working with Muslim students and preparing teachers to support Muslim students in the current socio-political context. We discuss these experiences with the goal of suggesting some priorities in teacher education. Ultimately, to prepare teachers to be effective teachers for Muslim students requires them to go beyond being culturally responsive to becoming advocates …

Contexts Of Cultural Diversity Professional Development In Schools, Hillary Parkhouse, Jesse Senechal, Julie Gorlewski, David Naff, Zoey Lu, Ashlee Lester

MERC Publications

This report is part of a larger MERC study on Professional Development for Success in Culturally Diverse Schools.The goals of the larger study are (1) to understand the landscape of diversity within the schools in the MERC region, (2) to consider the implications for school policy and professional practice, (3) to review the current models of professional development that support teachers and other school professionals in regards to issues of cultural diversity, and (4) to develop and test models of professional development that have positive impacts on teacher practice, student outcomes and overall school success. With these goals in mind, …

From The Ground Up: Providing Support To Emergent Bilinguals To Distinguish Language Difference From Disability, Andrea Golloher, David Whitenack, Lisa Simpson, Donna Sacco

Faculty Publications

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data reveal that students with disabilities who are emergent bilinguals (English language learners) have the lowest levels of profficiency in reading and mathematics among all student groups. We consider issues related to the instruction of emergent bilinguals, including those identified as having specific learning disabilities, using a Response to Intervention (RTI)/Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) model. In so doing, we argue that instructional practices consistent with a robust Tier 1 framework are beneficial to emergent bilinguals with and without learning disabilities while differentiating Tier 2 and 3 interventions may improve outcomes for emergent bilingual …

A Quantitative Investigation Of The Relationship Between English Language Assessments And Academic Performance Of Long-Term Ells, Yesmi Rios

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows academic literacy is a challenge for students classified as Long-Term English Language Learners (LTELLs). In the pseudonymous Windy Desert School District (WDSD), there are 17,365 students classified as LTELLs. Of these students, the majority are falling short of English academic literacy goals on the Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners (ACCESS for ELLs) test and 67% do not graduate from high school. This quantitative study examined the predictive relationship between ACCESS English language proficiency subscale scores in the language domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing and course semester grades in English 9, …

Finding Lost & Found: Designer’S Notes From The Process Of Creating A Jewish Game For Learning, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article provides context for and examines aspects of the design process of a game for learning. Lost & Found (2017a, 2017b) is a tabletop-to-mobile game series designed to teach medieval religious legal systems, beginning with Moses Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (1180), a cornerstone work of Jewish legal rabbinic literature. Through design narratives, the article demonstrates the complex design decisions faced by the team as they balance the needs of player engagement with learning goals. In the process the designers confront challenges in developing winstates and in working with complex resource management. The article provides insight into the pathways the team …

Untying The Knot, Charisse Jones

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

“In A Position I See Myself In:” (Re)Positioning Identities And Culturally-Responsive Pedagogies, Noah Asher Golden

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Culturally-responsive pedagogies require moving beyond blanket assumptions about learners to focus deeply on local meaning-makings. This narrative analysis case study examines the ways a 20-year-old African American man challenges the negative educational identity with which he is forced to contend as he navigates a large and complex urban public school system. The ways in which Jamahl, a seeker of a High School Equivalency, refuses interpellation as an uneducated learner destined to be “nothin'” provides insight as to how formal education might be more responsive to learners' negotiation of deficiency discourses. Embracing agency, specifically through awareness of the ways Jamahl employs …

Promoting Student Success: Bilingual Education Best Practices And Research Flaws, Lillian Fassero

Senior Honors Theses

This paper first determines the benefits which bilingual education offers and then compares transitional, dual-language, and heritage language maintenance programs. After exploring the outcomes, contexts, and practical implications of the various bilingual programs, this paper explores the oversight in most bilingual studies, which assess students’ syntax and semantics while neglecting their understanding of pragmatics and discourse structures (Maxwell-Reid, 2011). Incorporating information from recent studies which question traditional understandings of bilingualism and argue that biliteracy requires more than grammatical and vocabulary instruction, this paper proposes modifications in current research strategies and suggests best practices for transitional, dual-language, and heritage maintenance programs.

A Case Study Of Two Taiwanese Students With Hearing Loss Navigating The English As A Foreign Language Requirement At Their University, Yu Chen

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Many institutions of higher education (IHE) students in Taiwan now need to meet the English proficiency requirement to earn their higher education degrees. In this case study, I intended to a) provide the opportunity for IHE students with hearing loss in Taiwan to share their opinions, thoughts, and experiences of learning English as a foreign language in higher education institutes; and b) understand how English as a foreign language policies and educational practices contribute to create opportunities and barriers for IHE students with hearing loss. The research question I intended to examine was “what are the perceptions of the lived …

An Ethnohistorical Study Of The Dowagiac Chieftains, Kathryn A. Bishop

Masters Theses

This research uses ethnohistorical methods to examine the use of imagery appropriated from American Indian cultures by the Dowagiac Union Schools. High School yearbooks from 1899- 2014, along with other artifacts, were identified as sources of information to describe students’ experiences. Applying Brayboy’s (2005) Tribal Critical Race Theory, an off-shoot of Critical Race Theory, combined with the research of historical and theoretical scholars like Davis (2002), Pewewardy (2001), and Deloria, King, and Springwood (2001), a case is made for the removal of American Indian mascots used by educational institutions, including the Dowagiac Chieftains. Though over 1,750 occasions of American Indian-appropriated …

No.6, December 2017: District Administrators' Perspectives On The Impact Of The Local Control Funding Formula On English Learners, Magaly Lavadenz Ph.D., Gisela Obrien Ph.D.

Education and Policy Briefs

Two years into implementation, this policy brief examines how California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and its accompanying Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) meet the needs of English Learners (ELs). Researchers seek to understand district administrator perspectives on the impact of LCFF for ELs through interviews and focus groups with administrators that represent districts from Northern, Central, and Southern California. Findings reveal that although the LCAP serves as a mechanism to increase personnel and PD efforts to address EL needs, it is still largely viewed as a compliance document that requires alignment with other strategic documents and is sensitive to …

Advantages & Challenges: An Assessment Of Suny Oneonta's Current Approach To International Student Services, Sarah Busche

Capstone Collection

The decision to become an international student is a choice that is as challenging as it is rewarding, and is one that I am familiar with from both a professional and personal standpoint. Per a recent Open Doors’ account, 1,043,839 students from around the world have made the decision to study in the United States in 2016. These individuals make up 9% of New York State’s student population, and 10.1% of the State University of New York system (SUNY, 2016). Currently SUNY Oneonta is host to 56 of these international students, whom I was excited to work with through my …

The Effectiveness Of Dual Language And Sheltered English Immersion Esol Programs: A Comparative Study, Thomas Meyer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

During the 2005-2006 school year, 20% of students in the United States spoke a language other than English at home. Projected growth of English Language Learners in the United States is that by 2015 that number will rise to 50%. Research shows that vocabulary development is key to helping young English language learners acquire English mastery, but there is presently no commonly adopted English for Speakers of Other Languages teaching strategy. Dual Language and Sheltered English Immersion are two English for speakers of other languages programs used extensively throughout the United States and exclusively by the school district in this …

A Case Study Investigating Teacher Perceptions Of Obstacles Faced By Eighth-Grade Latino Males, Stanley Mcqueen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to investigate teacher perceptions into the educational obstacles of eighth-grade Latino males. For the purpose of this research, educational obstacles are generally defined as anything which obstructs Latino males from receiving a high school diploma. Critical Race Theory and Expectancy-Value Theory provided a lens to view the perceptions investigated in the study. Participants included 12 teachers from different middle schools across Northern Georgia. Teacher perceptions of educational obstacles (intentional or unintentional) were investigated through interviews, focus groups, pilot studies, and observations. Guiding the study was the research question: What are teacher perceptions of …

The Characteristics Of African American Parental Influence On Academic Success In A Rural School District: A Collective Case Study, Raymond Christian

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to discover the characteristics of African American parental behavior regarding the importance of school, and its influence on their high school children’s academic success in a rural school district, for recent African American graduates in Mountain County, North Carolina. The research study utilized a collective case study approach and included five African American parents and, their children that had graduated from Mountain County High School and gained college acceptance. Guided by Ecological Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), and Risk and Resilience Theory (Catalano, Hawkins, 1996), data collection methods included interviews, document analysis and, focus groups. …

Strengthening Families In Santa Cruz County, Yajaira Rubio-Mendoza

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Parenting is very rewarding and enjoyable, yet it can be challenging and exhausting. Therefore, there is no right way to be a parent. At La Manzana Community Resources (LMCR), a family program of Community Bridges, there is a strong belief in strengthening families within the Santa Cruz County community. That is why LMCR provides various services such as, Triple-P Positive Parenting Program. Triple-P, funded by First 5, provides parents and caregivers parenting support ranging from birth to 12 years of age, with additional support for families with teens, and families of children with special needs. The …

Achievement Gap In United States History End Of Course Assessment Scores In Ga High Schools, Kris Watkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation study, which employed a quantitative correlational research design, was to determine if the school-level variables of percentage of African American students, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students, and type of school scheduling significantly influence student performance on the Georgia Milestones U.S. History end-of-course assessments (EOCs) for the school years 2014-15 and 2015-16. The study utilized a sample of 163 high schools located in the Atlanta metropolitan statistical area (MSA). Results from simultaneous linear regression analyses showed that school-level percentage of economically disadvantaged students was significantly associated with school-level Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) U.S. History …

Multilingualism And Academic Writing: A Match Made In Heaven Or A Disastrous Combination?, Roshni Paul, Ian Mcdonald

Journal of Research Initiatives

There has long been a tradition of international students studying in the United Kingdom. Despite a dip in the most recently published statistics, Indian students continue to make up a high proportion of UK’s international student population. The majority of Indian students are multilingual and this raises potential problems for them with regards to academic writing, such as grammar, structuring and vocabulary. This article presents a largely empirical study which examines the experiences of, and issues faced by, seven postgraduate research students in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment at Birmingham City University. Samples of academic writing …

Roundtable – Teaching Human Rights: Challenges And Best Practices, Shayna Plaut, Kristi Kenyon, Joel Pruce, William Simmons

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Over the past 20 years, courses addressing human rights have grown dramatically at both the undergraduate and graduate levels worldwide. Many of these courses are housed in specific disciplines, focus on specific issues, and require practical experience in the form of internships/practicums. Amid this growth there is a need to reflect on teaching human rights including the challenges, fears, and best practices.

Recognizing that education takes place inside and outside a classroom, this roundtable brings together scholars teaching human rights in a variety of settings to examine the current state of university human rights education. This includes a discussion of …

Version Française Du Test Numeracy Screener (Ns-F), Un Outil De Dépistage Des Difficultés De Traitement Du Nombre Et Des Quantités, Nadia Nosworthy, Anne Lafay, Stefanie Archambault, Melanie Vigneron

Faculty Publications

The Numeracy Screener was developed by Dr. Nadia Nosworthy and Dr. Daniel Ansari at the Numerical Cognition Laboratory at Western University (Canada). This test is a brief (2 - 4minutes) screening tool of basic number and numerosity processing skills for children ages 5to 9 years. The goal of the present study was to establish a French version of the Numeracy Screener (NS-f), for which the translation is valid. For that purpose, a method of back-translation was used. The results showed a good correspondence (near 80 % adequation)between the original version and both retranslated versions. It thus suggests that the French …

The Difference Between English And Math High School Teachers' Attitudes And Perceptions Toward The Inclusion Of English Language Learner Students, Ashley Sibert Williamson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Within the last 10 years, the United States experienced an influx of non-English speaking students, which challenged teachers, administrators, and other educational stakeholders on how to successfully accommodate these English Language Learners (ELL). This causal-comparative study examined the attitudes and perceptions of secondary English and math teachers in relation to ELL inclusion. Specifically, the study presented the main question of whether there is a difference between English and math teachers’ attitudes and perceptions toward the inclusion of ELLs. Teacher attitudes have been found to play a role in determining student academic achievement; therefore, assessing teacher attitudes toward ELLs could be …

Introduction Of The World Organic Language Teaching Approach, Jingyi Zhang

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

This article introduces the OWL instructional approach including its rationale, target setting, procedure, and class structure. With the OWL experience, the author also gives reflections on this approach.

Levinas, Leviticus, & Language: A Case Study Exploring Acsi Maritime Teacher Challenges Of Practice Due To Increasing Esl Enrollment, Susanne Huizing

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to explain the perceived challenges of practice due to increasing enrollment of English Language Learners (ELLs) for ACSI teachers in the Canadian Maritimes. The theory guiding this study was ethics as first philosophy by Levinas (1981). Levinas’ theory aided in examining the ethical, relational, and linguistic challenges teachers experienced teaching ELLs. The central research question guiding this study was: what are the perceived challenges of practice K-12 ACSI Maritime school teachers face due to increasing ELL enrollment? Data was collected through pre-interview journals, semi-structured face-to-face interviews, and observations. Data analysis included transcriptions, documents, …

Teachers’ Self-Efficacy When Differentiating Between Language Acquisition Difficulties Or Possible Learning Disabilities In English Language Learners, Elizabeth Hallett

All Theses And Dissertations

This multiple-case study examines teachers’ self-efficacy, or perceptions of their effectiveness, when differentiating between typical language acquisition difficulties and possible learning disabilities in English Language Learners (ELLs) who are challenged academically. Five mainstream elementary teachers from a mid-sized urban school district in the northeastern United States participated in the study. Data from individual interviews, meeting observations and artifacts were collected from each of the participants. Meeting observations occurred during each participant’s Integrated Learning Team meetings. During interviews, participants described their experiences working with ELLs who struggled more than typical ELLs and presented an artifact representing experiences teaching such students. Across …

Training Needs For Special Education Teachers In Sultanate Of Oman And Its Relationship With Some Variables., Fatma H. Almaamaria, Heyam Mosa Al-Taj

International Journal for Research in Education

The purpose of this study is to investigate the training needs of special education teachers in Al-brymei governorate in the sultanate of Oman and its relationship with some variables. The sample of the study consisted of (115) male and female teachers, to achieve the aim of this study the researcher adopted the analytical descriptive approach through developing a scale consisted of (60) items distributed into six domains. The findings of the study showed that the degree of training needs of special education teachers in employing technology and educational technologies domain was high and ranked first within the six domains. Followed …