Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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Item Individual Variables in Context: A Longitudinal Study of Child and Adolescent English Language Learners(2023) Struck, Jason; Jiang, Nan; Clark, Martyn; Second Language Acquisition and Application; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Millions of public-school students in the United States are identified as English language learners (ELLs), whose academic success is tied to their second language (L2) English education. Previous research in adult populations indicates that L2 proficiency is related to the contextual variable of the prevalence of one’s first language (L1) among their peers, called L1 density, which may also moderate the effects of individual variables such as age and exposure to the L2. Despite its substantial impact on the amount and quality of adult learners’ exposure to the L2, the variable of L1 density has received little attention in child and adolescent populations, even though it is unknown what role, if any, L1 density plays in L2 acquisition in a school context. Other outstanding questions concerning individual variables include the nature of the purported rate advantage of later starters and whether the similarity of one's L1 and L2 is related to L2 proficiency.The current study addressed these questions by analyzing longitudinal L2 proficiency assessment records of 10,879 ELLs in grades 1–12 in the United States. The assessment was WIDA's ACCESS for ELLs Online Test, a national, standardized test with scores for each of the four domains of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Multilevel models were used to estimate the effects of several variables: age of enrollment in a United States school, length of enrollment, language similarity, and L1 density. In the fitted model estimates, age of enrollment had a small, positive effect. Length of enrollment had a sizable, positive effect but attenuated over time. ELLs enrolling at a later age progressed slightly slower than ELLs enrolling at an earlier age, contrary to the widely accepted notion that later starters enjoy a rate advantage. Little to no evidence was found for a relationship between test scores and language similarity or L1 density, or that the effects of age of enrollment or length of enrollment varied with L1 density. The results of this study give evidence for the following conclusions for ELLs in United States schools: an earlier age of enrollment is associated with greater gains in L2 proficiency over time, speakers of different L1s are not expected to become differentially proficient in L2 English, and ELLs’ levels of L2 proficiency are not expected to vary with how many of their peers speak the same L1.Item A BILINGUAL FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAM FOR FAMILIES OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: EXPERIENCES, PERSPECTIVES, AND LITERACY PRACTICES FROM THREE FOCAL FAMILIES(2015) Palombo, Kimberly Marie; Silverman, Rebecca D; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A large body of research identifies the positive association between family literacy and reading outcomes for children. However, much of this research focuses on children in the emergent reading stage. Research aimed at family literacy for families with English language learners (ELLs) is further limited. Due to the dearth of family literacy program (FLP) literature for children in grades three through five, the current study investigated the experiences and attitudes of three parent–child focal pairs who participated in a bilingual family literacy program. This qualitative study of a family literacy program investigated the following two research questions: (1) What are families’ experiences and attitudes related to a family literacy program, implemented as part of an existing reading intervention, to support children’s reading development?; and (2) How does what families learn in a family literacy program align with at–home literacy interactions? Three parent–child focal pairs who were ELLs and had children in fourth grade, served as the participants to investigate these questions. Data sources for analysis included parent and student interviews, parent questionnaire, and audio/video recordings of the program. The constant comparative method (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) was used to analyze all data, both within and across the focal families. The analysis culminated in the development of an emergent theory that summarized the findings from the experiences of the focal families included in this study. Analyses of data revealed the three focal families desired to support their children’s literacy development through participation in family literacy programming, and they added to their skills with practical strategies to use with their children. Further, participation in family literacy programming deepened Spanish family literacy interactions related to texts children read in English through oral discourse. Finally, families’ implementation of strategies learned in an FLP extended their existing home literacy environment. A discussion of the findings, implications for families, home–school partnerships, and future FLPs, limitations of the current study, and future areas of research are then explored.Item READING COMPREHENSION STRATEGY INSTRUCTION IN UPPER-ELEMENTARY CLASSROOMS WITH ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: A STUDY OF PRACTICES AND OUTCOMES(2015) Doyle, Candice Briece; Silverman, Rebecca D; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between reading comprehension strategy instruction (explicit or skills-based) in general education settings and third through fifth grade students' reading comprehension outcomes. In addition, I was interested in whether relationships between instruction and outcomes differed for students from English only (EO) and English language learner (ELL) backgrounds. To address these goals I conducted a secondary data analysis of 59 Reading/Language Arts classroom observation transcripts. These represented observations of 19 teachers at three time points (fall, winter, spring). I analyzed transcripts by employing an iterative coding process including open, axial, and selective coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). I coded teacher talk at the utterance (Crookes, 1990) level for either explicit instruction (instruction that included all of the following: introduction, modeling, collaborative practice, guided practice, independent practice) or skills-based practice (teacher practice in which students were asked to apply a comprehension strategy absent of instruction of how to do so). In addition I coded for separate parts of the explicit instruction model (introduction, modeling, collaborative practice, guided practice, independent practice). Then, I quantitized (Tashakori & Tedlie, 1998) the instructional code data into average frequency counts across observations in order to conduct multiple regression analyses with student reading comprehension outcome measures. I found no statistically significant results related to the explicit instruction model (as a whole), or skills-based practice and students' outcomes. However, when analyzing separate parts of explicit instruction, results suggested that more guided practice was associated with higher scores on one outcome measure. In exploring interactions between language background and instructional codes, I found no differences in relationships between instructional codes and reading comprehension for EOs versus ELLs.Item PROSPECTIVE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS' LEARNING TO EDUCATE ENGLISH LEARNERS IN A TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY(2012) Daniel, Shannon Mary; Peercy, Megan M; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this study, I examined the opportunities prospective elementary teachers had to learn about educating students learning English as an additional language during their thirteen-month Master's with Certification in Elementary Education (MCEE) program. Data collection efforts centered around repeated teaching observations and interviews with four focal participants who were members of the 2010-2011 MCEE cohort during eight months of their program. Additional data collection on candidates' learning experiences in the program included surveys administered with the entire cohort, a focus group interview with the four focal candidates, and a focus group with four other members of the cohort. To investigate efforts teacher educators made to help candidates learn about educating English language learners (ELLs), I interviewed eight teacher educators in roles ranging from mentor teacher to program director. These interviews, along with observations of over one hundred hours of course meetings and a review of program documents, enabled me to identify challenges and opportunities teacher educators encountered when attempting to guide candidates in learning about educating ELLs. When teaching ELLs in their internships, candidates learned valuable skills to educate ELLs, but they also attended to the implicit message that marginalizing ELLs in elementary schools and classrooms is acceptable. In regards to their coursework, candidates identified instances in which they learned about educating linguistically diverse students, but also reported that they remembered little overall because the education of ELLs was addressed infrequently. While teacher educators actively strove toward guiding candidates to learn knowledge, skills, and dispositions of educating linguistically diverse students, they faced challenges such as those related to communication and coherence among teacher educators at the university and school sites. Implications for practice and research include implementing more innovative forms of collaboration among both teacher candidates and teacher educators in elementary education and second language education.Item Equity in Spanish/English Dual Language Education: Practitioners' Perspectives(2012) Sugarman, Julie Sarice; Martin-Beltran, Melinda; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Dual language programs have been shown to be one of the most successful models for closing the achievement gap between English-speaking and English-learning students, which can be considered a strong indicator of educational equity. However, questions remains about how equity is achieved within these programs and what equity means to practitioners. This study examines how practitioners define and interpret the concept of equity in the context of dual language education and what program- and classroom-level policies and practices may contribute to an equitable environment. Two interviews were conducted with fifteen teachers and administrators from a variety of Spanish/English dual language programs. In the first interview, participants defined equity and described examples of equity and inequity in their program or classroom, and in the second, participants used six key points from the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education (Howard et al., 2007) to stimulate their thinking about what evidence they would look for to determine whether the practice described in the key point was being effectively implemented. Five imperatives emerged as key elements of an equitable dual language environment: practitioners cultivate an environment where English and Spanish have equal status, students of diverse ethno-linguistic backgrounds are positioned and recognized as equals, the curriculum and program model reflect the goals of bilingualism and biliteracy, multicultural curriculum and materials are used, and students have access to the curriculum and to educational resources. The types of evidence that participants felt were salient to the evaluation of equity reflected a variety of practices, including teacher and student language use, student grouping, and multiculturalism in curriculum and instruction. Participants also noted the importance of taking contextual factors into account when evaluating equity in a dual language program, including the reasoning behind teacher decision-making, developmental appropriateness and/or alignment with the dual language model, and the effect of the socio-political context in which dual language practitioners operate. Two ways that participants framed their examples of equity were, first, in terms of the challenges that stem from societal attitudes toward bilingualism and minority languages and cultures, and second, that efforts to increase equity have both academic and symbolic purposes.Item A quasi-experimental evaluation of reading and special education outcomes for English Language Learners in Instructional Consultation Teams schools(2007-07-10) Silva, Arlene E.; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present quasi-experimental study used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to investigate whether the Instructional Consultation (IC) Team model differentially influences fourth and fifth grade state reading achievement test scores, and English Language Learner (ELL) student scores in particular. Correlations among student-, classroom-, and school-level variables and special education placement were also explored using HLM. Archival data from 11 IC Teams "treatment" schools and 17 nonequivalent "control" schools in a mid-Atlantic state were analyzed in both students-within-schools and classrooms-within-schools multilevel models, with appropriate controls specified for classroom and school compositional effects. Although students-within-schools HLM models of reading achievement were not significant, classrooms-within-schools models indicated that classrooms in IC Teams schools had significantly higher class average reading achievement test scores (ES = .36) compared to classrooms in control schools. Neither the students-within-schools nor classrooms-within-schools HLM models found IC Teams to differentially influence reading achievement for ELL students. In addition, classrooms-within-schools results indicate that classrooms in general and classrooms with higher percentages of ELL students tended to have lower percentages of students placed in special education in IC Teams schools. The presence of significant effects at the classroom level may indicate that the classroom is a better unit of analysis for investigating the effectiveness of the IC Team model during the first two to three years of implementation, when its greatest impact may be on teacher, as opposed to student, improvement. Despite its limitations, the present study represents the most rigorous investigation of the effect of IC Teams on student reading achievement to date, and serves as a foundation for future research using HLM to investigate the effects of the IC Team model on student and classroom outcomes.Item State Policies and Classroom Practice: Adapting Instruction for English Language Learners(2004-11-24) Bentley-Memon, Millicent Lynn; Herschbach, Dennis R; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A qualitative case study was employed to address if and how fifth grade teachers adapted instruction for English language learners in response to the Maryland School Performance Program (MSPP), and the role of the Program as one of the many factors that shaped instruction for these students. This case study was conducted at two elementary schools in Maryland from March 1999 through May 2000, using observation, participant observation, interviews, and document analysis. Findings indicated that teachers used common instructional strategies to teach English language learners, that teachers' beliefs about language and cognition shaped teaching craft, and that the Program shaped instruction, but was only one of many factors shaping education for these students. Findings illustrated the relationship between state policy and classroom practice, that state policies influence, are nested in, and co-exist with classroom practice.