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Browsing by Subject "English learners"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Mathematics Word Problem Solving with English Learners
    (2019-12) Jones, Leila
    Schema-based instruction is recognized as an effective practice to teach children word problem solving skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally and linguistically responsive adaptation to schema-based instruction with a sample of Spanish-speaking English learners. A multiple probe design across participants was used to evaluate the efficacy of the culturally and linguistically responsive schema-based instruction on word problem solving performance. Maintenance of intervention effects was assessed six weeks following intervention implementation. Student perceptions of the culturally and linguistically responsive schema-based intervention were also measured. Results indicate that the intervention was successful at improving and maintaining word problem solving performance with this sample. The students reported an overall positive attitude toward the intervention, providing evidence that they understood, enjoyed, and felt they benefited from the intervention.
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    Dueling discourses: an examination of administrator, teacher, and parent talk about English language learners
    (2015-01) Vecchio-Smith, Margaret Joanna
    The purpose of this critical theory study is to examine the perceptions of English language learners and their families at "Patna Elementary" through the talk of native English speakers and native speakers of other languages. Emergent themes for native English speakers are organized by level of equity awareness, and emergent themes for native speakers of other languages include the impact of cultural capital. This study uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine the discoursal patterns of native English speakers. The study found, among other things, that educators who were highly focused on equity were aware of the diversity of lived experiences of EL families, were metacognitive about equity, and used significance-building techniques to describe their work; educators who were highly focused on equity increased the level of equity at Patna Elementary.
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    Emergent Multilinguals and Making Inferences in Elementary Guided Reading Groups
    (2017-07) Carey, Leah
    This study explores the topic of inference making with young emergent multilinguals. Literature demonstrates that inference making is essential for reading comprehension (Oakhill & Cain, 2007) and that the skill of inference develops before learning how to read. Inference skills may transfer as a child learns how to read (Kendeou, Bohn-Gettler, White & van den Brock, 2008). However, there are very few studies regarding inference skill with young emergent multilinguals, that specifically account for the factors of multilingualism and from descriptive and qualitative approaches. This action-research study in a second-grade classroom with English learners focused on the following research questions: 1. How can I scaffold instruction to support inference-making during guided reading in my classroom? And, 2. What student actions and dialogues take place when my students attempt to make inferences from text and images? After thematic coding and analysis of transcriptions, journals and artifacts, findings showed that differences in prior knowledge, using visuals and explicit questioning were important considerations for supporting the learners. Learners also demonstrated a variety of modes and strategies (i.e. peer interaction, facial expressions, gestures, pointing) to explain their thinking and occasionally demonstrated their developing metacognition. The transcripts and field notes also demonstrated inconsistencies in students’ abilities to infer within texts, implying the contextual basis of making inferences and individual differences in interactions with texts (e.g., dispositions, experiences, skills). Other implications of this study include using pictures to practice comprehension skills, as the study demonstrated more discussion and ease with regards to making inferences, as decoding text was not an element of that activity. Results of this study point to the need for further study on reading comprehension with multilinguals, specifically from a framework that takes into account the experiences, culture and background of students. Additionally, a focus on the process of inference through classroom-based research, could lead to findings more relevant for practitioners and that support student learning. Further research could benefit from utilizing sociocultural and discourse frameworks to inquire about multilinguals’ multitude of developing skills and abilities.
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    Standardized Bilingual Assessments: A Means To Reduce Construct-Irrelevant Variance and Ethnic/Racial Stereotype Threat
    (2020-05) Caesar, Julio
    Every academic year, culturally and linguistically diverse students (CLDs) are misassigned and misidentified to special education, remedial classes, or less-efficient educational settings partially based on assessments that are not developed in the CLDs’ native languages. Latino students are not only misassigned in higher proportions to lower tier math classes, they continue to show assessment scores that lag behind their monolingual White peers by sizable effect sizes. These differences are even more prominent for Latino students who live in homes where Spanish is the primary language. Math assessments in the United States are usually developed with norming samples of White students, and include language that is complex to CLDs. Moreover, significantly more Latino students are taking high stake assessments than a decade ago, but, there are no signs of improving the performance gaps with their White peers. The unintentional language complexity introduces a source of construct-irrelevant variance when assessing mathematical ability of Latino students because math ability is not the only construct being measured. The language complexity dimension is not as readily accessible to Latino students—especially English learners—as it is to their White peers. To make matters worse, it is clear from the growing body of research on stereotype threat that negative stereotypes systematically and negatively affect how students of color perform on intellectual, cognitive, and scholastic assessments. In order to maximize the optimal testing conditions for CLDs, while minimizing construct-irrelevant factors, a bilingual assessment was used in this study to investigate whether it would (a) reduce measurement invariance, (b) lessen the stereotype threat-activating cues of the diagnostic assessment, and (c) preserve the construct-related validity and reliability standards of the assessment. A 2 (original language of assessment form) x 2 (language adaptation) x 3 (ethnic/racial stereotype threat) x 3 (gender stereotype threat) between-subjects quasi-experimental factorial design was used. A total of 449 Latino participants from grades 10, 11, and 12 partook in the study; 54.8% male; 61.9% second-generation Latino; and, 26.9% English learners. Results of the study highlighted that the complex (English-only) language increased the difficulty of the assessments by introducing construct-irrelevant variance, posing a serious threat to validity. Specifically, participants who received the bilingual form of the English-only assessment scored on average .38 logits higher than those who received the English-only form (Cohen’s d = 0.33, 95% CI[0.08, 0.57]). This language adaptation effect was still statistically significant, b = 0.37, t(204) = 2.46, p < .05, after controlling for generational status, gender, EL status, grade, English proficiency, Spanish proficiency, grade point average, Students Like Learning Mathematics factor scores, and ethnic/racial and gender stereotype threat in a multiple regression analysis, explaining 2.12% of additional variance. It was also found that bilingual assessments reduce ethnic/racial stereotype threat (ERST) effects (g = 0.48 [0.04, 0.91] and g = 0.45 [0.02, 0.88], when ERST was activated or in a control condition, respectively). Lastly, the construct-related validity and reliability evidence highlighted that bilingual assessment forms do not have an adverse impact on the construct being measured. Utilizing a bilingual assessment to measure mathematical ability of CLDs would indirectly improve the measurement qualities of a mathematical assessment, that is, higher classical item difficulty values, implying a more accurate measurement of math ability. Not to mention the positive outcomes that could be seen in primary and secondary classrooms where ELs would not be held back in subject areas that, possibly, they had already mastered in their home countries, or, simply, would not be misassigned to special education services or remedial classes. These positive outcomes would also be evident when EL juniors and seniors who have recently arrived to the United States would be able to show their knowledge of mathematics on national assessments such as the SAT and ACT, paving way to possible scholarships and fellowships based on their mathematical ability. In all, the use of bilingual assessments will provide equitable and fair access to learning opportunities for our culturally and linguistically diverse students.
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    Student Teachers Learning Together to Enact Culturally Relevant Pedagogy for English Learners
    (2015-05) Benegas, Michelle
    As Minnesota's schools currently educate 65,000 English learners (ELs), a 300% increase over the past two decades, teachers and school administrators are called to consider how best to meet the needs of this changing demographic. Given the firmly entrenched opportunity gap between ELs and their English-proficient peers, meeting the needs of this growing population of students is particularly urgent. Researchers assert that culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) is essential in closing the opportunity gap, as it recognizes the central role of students’ cultures in all aspects of teaching and learning and it acknowledges and responds to the current schooling climate that places students from diverse cultural backgrounds in learning environments that do not mirror their home cultures and values. Unfortunately, CRP is a commonly misunderstood framework and little is known about how teachers can be prepared to enact it. This collective case study examined four student teachers as they participated in a community of practice focused on CRP for ELs in an urban elementary school. The researcher sought to understand how the participants’ understanding and enactment of CRP for ELs evolved and how they overcame perceived obstacles to CRP enactment. Prior to the onset of data collection, the elementary school adopted a new literacy curriculum that required teachers to deliver lessons by reading from scripts. The participants identified the standardized curriculum as the most significant obstacle to CRP enactment; however, findings from this study reveal that the participants developed a system (that the researcher and participants coined “weaving”) in which they attended to the “non-negotiables” of the curriculum while incorporating themes that reflected their diverse students’ lived experiences. Additional findings indicate that participant examination of their own evolving sociocultural identity was a critical aspect in their cultural competency development and that learning to enact CRP for ELs took place within and between community of practice meetings.