Dissertation Proposal of Shajaira P. López

Educational Leadership Doctoral ProgramNational Louis University

The

March 8, 2016

Reading Achievement Among Third Grade English Learners in Dual Language and Transitional Bilingual Programs

Figure 1. Third Grade Student Reading (Cleveland Metro. Schools, 2016)

Introduction pp. 1-3

● A socio-political perspective of the education of at-risk students○ Goals of the U.S. Dept. of Education○ Percentage of 25-29 year-olds with a bachelor’s degree○ Education critics’ perspective○ U.S. Dept. of Education’s attempt to meet the needs of at-risk students○ The revelation:

A 30-year-old

40% Achievement

Gap between ELs and Non-ELs

Figure 2. National Achievement Gap-ELs and Non-ELs (NAE, 2015)

Background of the Study pp. 3-5

● By 2025 ELs will become 25% of the U.S. student population. (NEA, 2015)● Benefits of dual language education (DLE) programs:

○ DLE programs are closing this achievement gap (Collier & Thomas, 2004)○ DLE yield higher test scores (Collier & Thomas, 2009)

● Benefit of transitional bilingual education (TBE) programs:○ Achievement of ELs is notable at the elementary level, but because of the limited

use of native language instruction the effects are not notable at the secondary levels (Baker, 2006; Gomez et al., 2005; Thomas & Collier, 2002)

Statement of the Problem pp. 5-6

40% Reading Achievement

Gap between ELs and Non-ELs in CPS

since 2012

This study addresses which of two programs is

more effective in countering the problem of the

underperformance of ELs in CPS by comparing

the reading achievement of ELs enrolled in dual

language education (DLE) programs to the

transitional bilingual education (TBE) in Chicago

Public Schools.Figure 3. CPS Reading Achievement Gap. (ISBE, 2015)

Purpose of the Study pp. 6-7

The purpose of this archival quantitative study will be to compare the

reading achievement of third grade English learners enrolled in dual

language education programs with those enrolled in transitional bilingual

education programs in order to determine which program is more

effective in improving the reading proficiency of English learners in

Chicago Public Schools.

Research Questions p. 7

1. Is there a significant difference in the reading scores of English learners on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test between those enrolled in third grade dual language education programs and those enrolled in third grade transitional bilingual education programs?

2. Is there a significant difference in the reading proficiency levels of English learners on the ACCESS for ELLs between those enrolled in third grade dual language education programs and those enrolled in third grade transitional bilingual education programs?

Research Design p. 8

● Data:

○ 2010-2014 ISAT reading scaled scores

○ 2010-2014 ACCESS reading proficiency levels

● Independent variables: type of instructional programs (DLE and TBE)

● Dependent variables: student scores on ISAT and ACCESS for ELLs

● Independent sample t-tests will be used to compare data to determine statistical

significance:

○ 3rd grade DLE vs. 3rd grade TBE

○ P < 0.05 threshold for confidence

Definition of Terms pp. 8-9

Operational definitions provided for:1. Dual language education2. English learners3. English-proficient

students4. Reading proficiency5. Transitional bilingual

education

Research Questions:1. Is there a significant difference in the reading scores of

English learners on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test between those enrolled in third grade dual language education programs and those enrolled in third grade transitional bilingual education programs?

2. Is there a significant difference in the reading proficiency levels of English learners on the ACCESS for ELLs between those enrolled in third grade dual language education programs and those enrolled in third grade transitional bilingual education programs?

Definition of Terms pp. 8-9

1. Dual language education (DLE) is a type of language acquisition program that provides literacy and content instruction to students with the use of two languages, with the goal of achieving bilingualism, bilateralism, and multiculturalism (Howard et al., 2007).

2. English learners (ELs) refers to students whose first language is not English and who are in the process of acquiring the English language—reading, writing, listening and speaking (Bardack, 2010).

3. English-proficient students refer to students that are competent in reading, speaking, listening, and writing in the English language (WIDA, 2012).

4. Reading proficiency refers to a student’s competence in processing language through reading (WIDA, 2012).

5. Transitional bilingual education (TBE) programs provide English learners with initial instruction through the use of their first language in order to provide content area support while teaching the student English (Roberts, 1995). The use of the English learner’s first language diminishes as they progress in their English proficiency. The only goal of these programs is for English learners to become proficient in the English language—not bilingualism, biliteracy, or multiculturalism.

Literature Review pp. 12-17

● The Condition of English Learners in Public Schools

○ Percentage of EL in schools in the US, Illinois, and CPS

○ Academic performance of ELs in the US, Illinois, and CPS

■ Focused on the achievement gap between CPS ELs and non-ELs

○ Bilingual education policy that apply to ELs in Illinois and CPS

○ Issues in the education of ELs encountered by the Office of Civil Rights in CPS

Literature Review pp. 17-27

● Dual Language Education○ Definition of DLE○ Four kinds of DLE programs (NDLC, 2011)

■ Two-way immersion programs■ One-way immersion programs■ Heritage language programs■ Developmental bilingual programs

○ Rationale for DLE (theoretical framework)■ Cummins’ (2000) Developmental Interdependence Hypothesis and Common

Underlying Proficiency○ DLE program models: 50/50, 90/10 or 80/20, and The Gomez & Gomez dual

language education program○ Research on DLE programs

Literature Review pp. 17-27

● Research on DLE programs

○ DLE programs are an effective way to address the linguistic and academic needs of students that

benefit both ELs and English-proficient students and can even increase the probability of students

being academically prepared to enroll and sustain themselves in college level courses (Lindholm-

Leary, 2001; Thomas & Collier, 2002; Howard, Christian, & Genesee, 2004; Garza-Reyna, 2012;

Fuhriman-Cleverly, 2014).

○ A large-scale study conducted by Lindholm-Leary (2001) found that DLE programs benefited both

ELs and English-proficient students enrolled in programs across California and Alaska.

○ Higher levels of bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish were associated with higher levels of

literacy in the two languages for both groups of students (Lindholm-Leary, 2001).

○ DLE programs are closing this achievement gap between ELs and non-ELs (Collier & Thomas, 2004)

Literature Review pp. 27-31

● Transitional Bilingual Education

○ Definition of TBE

○ Two major types of TBE programs

■ Early-exit

■ Late-exit

○ Focus on Lara-Alecio and Parker’s Transitional Bilingual Pedagogical Model over

theoretical framework

○ Research on TBE program

Literature Review pp. 27-31

● Research on TBE programs

○ A study conducted by Ramirez, Yuen, Ramsey, and Pasta (1991) compared the relative effectiveness of early-

exit TBE programs and Structured-English immersion programs, found that after four years of being in the

program, “there is no difference in the level of achievement or rate of growth in achievement between the

students” (p. 655).

○ Lara-Alecio, Mathes, Rodriguez, and Guerrero (2008) found that K-3 ELs in developmental bilingual

programs outperformed K-3 ELs in TBE programs in phonological processing, oral language, reading

fluency, reading comprehension, and decoding, but no difference was found in rapid letter naming.

○ The consensus among TBE researchers is as follows: While the achievement of ELs in TBE programs is

notable at the elementary level—because they provide instruction in the ELs native language—the native

language instruction integrated within this program is not enough to aid ELs in reaching higher cognitive

levels at secondary levels, where the difference between bilingual education programs is truly noted (Baker,

2006; Gomez et al., 2005; Thomas & Collier, 2002).

Methodology pp. 33-35

This archival quantitative study will be used in a comparative design in

order to compare the reading achievement of third grade English learners

enrolled in Chicago Public Schools dual language education programs to

those enrolled in transitional bilingual education programs to determine

which program is more effective in improving the reading proficiency of

third grade English learners.

Hypotheses pp. 34-35

1. There is a significantly higher reading score on the Illinois Standards Achievement

Test for English learners enrolled in third grade dual language education programs than

those enrolled in third grade transitional bilingual education programs.

2. There is a significantly higher score in the reading proficiency levels on the ACCESS

for ELLs for English learners enrolled in third grade dual language education programs

than those enrolled in third grade transitional bilingual education programs.

Setting and Participants pp. 35-37

● The participants in this study were students enrolled in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) from 2010-2014

● CPS was selected for the study because it is the third largest school district in the U.S. (ISBE, 2015), its demographic trends mimic the trends seen nationwide, and it is the district with the largest population of English learners (ELs) in Illinois.

● A total of eight CPS schools were selected (four DLE and four TBE) based on the following criteria:○ Identified as being in level 1+ or level 1, according to CPS School Quality Rating

Policy○ Had a DLE or TBE program that was active during 2010-2014 for grades K-3○ Had at least 10 EL students in grade 3

Instrumentation pp. 37-40

● The data in this study are from the reading achievement results from the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners (ACCESS for ELLs). ○ The ISAT was a standardized test given to grades 3-8 students (ELs and non-ELs)

in Illinois from 2006-2014 to measure student achievement in relation to the Illinois Learning Standards (ISBE, 2011 & 2014)

○ ACCESS for ELLs is a “large-scale English language proficiency assessment given to Kindergarten through 12th graders who have been identified as ELs” (WIDA, 2015). It was administered annually in WIDA Consortium member states, such as Illinois, in order to monitor student progress in acquiring academic English; in Illinois it was used exclusively to measure ELs’ English proficiency on a yearly basis during 2006-2014 (ISBE, 2015).

Procedures pp. 40-41

1. Freedom of Information Act request submitted to ISBE in order to obtain student data

2. Organize data in a spreadsheet3. Convert data to Statistical Analysis System in order to be analyzed4. Conduct data analysis

Data Analysis p. 41

● Independent samples t-tests will be used to determine significant differences between the performance of English learners by program type: 3rd grade DLE vs. 3rd grade TBE.

● A 5% chance (P < 0.05) threshold for confidence will be utilized.

Limitations and Delimitations pp. 41-42

1. Only the reading achievement scores of ELs in two program types will be compared: DLE and TBE; other bilingual education programs will not be considered.

2. The instructional components for each DLE and TBE program will not be determined. 3. The data that will be collected will not indicate whether all sample participants were enrolled in either a DLE or

TBE program upon entry into the school district, or if the participants were enrolled continuously from kindergarten to third grade.

4. Data from only Chicago Public Schools will be collected. This will limit the generalizations to students who attend other schools in CPS and to other districts in Illinois that are comparable in demographics and have implemented DLE and TBE programs.

5. Other limitations include that the confounding variables of teacher qualifications and experience (or lack thereof), quality of instruction, professional development, living arrangements of participants, parental involvement, among others, are not taken into account.

6. This study will be delimited to ELs chosen based on the following criteria: enrolled in Chicago Public Schools from 2010-2014, third grade students, and in DLE programs and TBE programs that have similar demographics and are located in similar neighborhoods.

Next Steps1. Run data analysis 2. Analyze findings3. Discuss findings and implications4. Revisions 5. Professional editing6. Dissertation defense

Figure 4. Students Reading (ESC Region 13, 2012)

References● Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4th ed.). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.● Bardack, S. (2010, April). Common ELL terms and definitions. American Institute for Research. Retrieved from http://www.air.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report/NEW_-

_Common_ELL_TERMS_AND_DEFINITIONS_6_22_10_0.pdf ● Collier, V. P., & Thomas, W. P. (2004). The astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2:1. Retrieved from

http://hillcrest.wacoisd.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_345/File/Publications/ELL/Dual%20language%20survey.pdf● Collier, V. P., & Thomas, W. P. (2009). Educating English learners for a transformed world. Albuquerque, NM: Dual Language Education of New Mexico, Fuente Press.● Cummins, J. (2000) Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.● Fuhriman-Cleverly, V. (2014). The academic and linguistic effectiveness of a dual language program: A comparison of student achievement within one district. Retrieved from ProQuest LLC (UMI Number: 3643020).● Garza-Reyna, G. L. (2012). The effects of transitional bilingual and dual language education programs on the college readiness of English language learners in a south Texas school district. Retrieved on ProQuest LLC

(UMI 3549006).● Genesee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K., Saunders, W., Christian, D. (2006). Educating English language learners a synthesis of research evidence. New York: Cambridge University Press. ● Gomez, L., Freeman, Y., & Freeman, D. (2005). Dual language education: A promising 50-50 dual language model. Retrieved from http://dlti.us/doc/PROMISING_MODEL_2005.pdf ● Howard, E. R., Christian, D., & Genesee, F. (2004). The development of bilingualism and biliteracy from grade 3 to 5: A summary of findings from the CAL/CREDE study of two-way immersion education (Research Report

No. 13). Santa Cruz, CA and Washington, DC: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence. Retrieved from http://schools.u-46.org/public/Howard_DL%20grades%203-5.pdf● Howard, E., Sugarman, J., Christian, D., Lindholm-Leary, K. J., & Rogers, D. (2007). Guiding principles for dual language education (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. Retrieved from

http://www.cal.org/twi/Guiding_Principles.pdf● Illinois State Board of Education. (2014). Illinois Standardized Achievement Test 2014 technical manual. Retrieved from http://www.isbe.net/assessment/pdfs/isat_tech_2014.pdf● Illinois Board of Education. (2015, July). Bilingual education programs and English learners in Illinois. SY 2013 Statistical report. Retrieved from http://isbe.state.il.us/research/pdfs/el-program-stat-rpt13.pdf● Kena, G., Musu-Gillette, L., Robinson, J., Wang, X., Rathbun, A., Zhang, J., . . . Dunlop Velez, E. (2015). The condition of education 2015. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015144.pdf● Lara-Alecio, R., & Parker, R. I. (1994). A pedagogical model for transitional English bilingual classrooms. Bilingual Research Journal. 18:3&4. Retrieved from: http://www.ncela.us/files/rcd/be021501/a

_pedagogical_model_for_transitional.pdf ● Lindholm-Leary, K.J. (2001). Dual language education. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.● Lindholm-Leary, K. J. (2005). Review of research and best practices on effective features of dual language education programs. San José: San José State University. Retrieved from

http://www.lindholm-leary.com/resources/review_research.pdf● National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2015). Achievement Gaps. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/gaps/● National Dual Language Consortium. (2011). Types of dual language programs. Retrieved from http://dual-language.org/● Ovando, C. J., Collier, V. P., & Combs, M. C. (2003). Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts. Boston: McGraw-Hill. ● Ramirez, D. J., Yuen, S. D., Ramey, D.R., and Pasta, D.J. (1991) Final report: Longitudinal study of structured-English immersion strategy, early-exit and late-exit transitional bilingual education programs for language-

minority children, Volume I. Technical report, Aquirre International, San Mateo, Calif. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED330216● Roberts, C. A. (1995) Bilingual education program models: a framework for understanding. The Bilingual Research Journal 19(3-4). pp. 369-378. Retrieved from

http://www.ncela.us/files/rcd/be021127/bilingual_education_program.pd● Thomas, W. P., & Collier, V. P. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for language minority students’ long-term academic achievement. Retrieved from

http://www.usc.edu/dept/education/CMMR/CollierThomasExReport.pdf● WIDA. (2015). ACCESS for ELLs summative assessment. Retrieved from https://www.wida.us/assessment/access/