Exploring conceptions of reading risk and program-specific literacy outcomes for Spanish speakers in dual language and English-medium programs

Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education ◽

10.1075/jicb.20020.neu ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sabina Rak Neugebauer ◽

Elizabeth R. Howard

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

English Learners ◽

Dual Language ◽

Language Education ◽

Risk Indicators ◽

Students At Risk ◽

Language Programs ◽

Spanish Speaking ◽

Literacy Outcomes ◽

Study Results

Abstract Considerable research documents the efficacy of dual language programs for the reading achievement of English learners from Spanish-speaking homes. However, there is uncertainty in the field of dual language education about how students at-risk for literacy difficulties fare in these same programs, as well as questions about how risk should be defined – i.e., difficulty with decoding versus lower levels of vocabulary – with distinct understandings of risk potentially differentially explaining students’ reading trajectories. This study followed Spanish-speaking students from Grades 3–5 to understand how students at-risk for reading difficulties fare in English reading comprehension in dual language versus English-medium programs, examining two different risk indicators in the process. Study results indicate that across risk categories, students performed equally well regardless of program model. In addition, decoding was a more robust indicator of risk than vocabulary.

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Dual Language: A Combined Dual Language Framework for Implementation: A 90/10 and 50/50 Model Design

English Language Teaching ◽

10.5539/elt.v12n10p108 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 108

Author(s):

Roslyn J. F. Billy ◽

Carmen Medina Garriguez

Keyword(s):

Academic Achievement ◽

English Language Learners ◽

Dual Language ◽

English Language ◽

Language Education ◽

Linguistically Diverse ◽

The United States ◽

Dual Language Education ◽

Language Programs ◽

Allocation Of Time

Dual Language programs are starting to resurface amongst the best practices for increasing literacy and academic language acquisition. Substantial evidence exists to support dual language (DL) education as a viable and enriching method of supporting high levels of academic achievement for both English Language Learners (ELLs) and English-speaking students (as cited in Ray, 2009). With that being said, there is no doubt that a DL program will increase the academic achievement of Culturally Linguistically Diverse (CDL) students. However, the question that arises in the implementation of DL programs is, which model either the 90/10 or the 50/50 is effective in sustaining academic achievement of CLD students during their educational experience? One issue that can impact Dual Language Education (DLE) program design concerns the allocation of time given to each language (Lindholm-Leary, 2012). The purpose of this research is to test the implementation of the conceptual dual language framework developed by the researchers that embraces both the 90/10 and 50/50 model allowing for a blended allocation of time given to each language for biliteracy mastery. Although the focus of the study took place in the United States, the researchers have also reviewed Europe and the Middle East where the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) model is very popular as other possible contexts for implementation of the framework.

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Bilingual Teacher Residency Programs in California: Considerations for Development and Expansion

10.15365/ceel.policy.7 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Magaly Lavadenz ◽

Elvira Armas ◽

Natividad Robles

Keyword(s):

Financial Incentives ◽

Clinical Training ◽

Dual Language ◽

Language Education ◽

The State ◽

Preparation Programs ◽

Language Programs ◽

Bilingual Teacher ◽

Teacher Residency ◽

High Needs Schools

Public interest, research and policies about dual language education and the multiple benefits of bilingualism and biliteracy have led to shortages of bilingual education teachers in the state and nation. School districts and educator preparation programs are actively looking for pathways of bilingual teacher preparation to meet local demands for more dual language programs. Modeled after medical residencies, teacher residencies are deeply rooted in clinical training, typically placing residents in classrooms with experienced teachers in high-needs schools where they are supported in their development. Teacher residencies allow for the recruitment of teachers, offer strong clinical preparation, connect new teachers to mentors and provide financial incentives to retain teachers in the school/district of residency. Little is known however, about bilingual teacher residencies in the state. Following a review of various data sources, researchers find that, to date, there are few bilingual teacher residencies offered and that there is a need to expand and study bilingual teacher residencies as one of the most viable pathways to respond to this shortage.

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Preparing School Leaders for Dual Language Programs in Rural Settings

Handbook of Research on Leadership and Advocacy for Children and Families in Rural Poverty - Advances in Human Services and Public Health ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-2787-0.ch016 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 344-358

Author(s):

Marjorie Campo Ringler ◽

Karen D. Jones

Keyword(s):

Public Education ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Dual Language ◽

School Leaders ◽

Language Education ◽

Dual Language Education ◽

Rural Regions ◽

Language Programs ◽

Rural Settings ◽

Eastern North Carolina

The existing curriculum in public education needs to change to incorporate bilingual and bicultural education to address the needs of the growing Hispanic population that tend to settle in rural communities. Dual language education research indicates that students that are bilingual show higher levels of achievement than their monolingual peers. These programs are not widely implemented in rural regions of eastern North Carolina because school leaders are not aware of the research and benefits. This chapter describes an approach an educational leadership program took to educate practicing administrators about dual language education. The research results led to creation of a professional certificate accessible to administrators in rural regions.

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Dual Language Education and Student Achievement

Education Finance and Policy ◽

10.1162/edfp_a_00320 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-57

Author(s):

Andrew Bibler

Keyword(s):

Student Achievement ◽

School Choice ◽

English Learners ◽

Test Scores ◽

Dual Language ◽

Language Education ◽

Dual Language Education ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Language School ◽

Local Average Treatment Effects

Two-way dual language (DL) classrooms enroll students of two different language backgrounds and teach curriculum in both languages. I estimate the effect of attending a dual language school on student achievement using school choice lotteries from Charlotte Mecklenburg School District, finding local average treatment effects of 0.04 and 0.05 standard deviations per year in math and reading, respectively. Attending a DL school increased test scores for English learners (ELs) and for non-ELs by a similar magnitude. The positive effects of winning the lottery to attend a DL school are substantially larger than the average effect of assignment to other magnet schools, and several peer and school characteristics are ruled out as explanations for the increased test scores. There is no statistically significant evidence that attending a dual language school changed the probability of having EL status throughout elementary school.

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Dual Language Profiles in Spanish-Speaking English Learners

10.31234/osf.io/cp6ey ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Pumpki Lei Su ◽

Raúl Rojas ◽

Aquiles Iglesias

Keyword(s):

Oral Language ◽

English Learners ◽

Dual Language ◽

Large Scale ◽

Latent Profile Analysis ◽

Dominant Group ◽

Language Abilities ◽

Spanish Speaking ◽

English Dominant ◽

Language Profiles

Purpose: This study examined systematic within-group differences in a large-scale sample of school-aged Hispanic, Spanish-speaking children designated as English Learners (ELs) by their school district.Method: Data for this study include 847 Spanish-speaking ELs from kindergarten to third grade. Spanish and English narrative retell language samples were collected from all participants. Four oral language measures were calculated in Spanish and English, including the subordination index (SI), moving average type-token ratio (MATTR), words per minute (WPM), and Narrative Structure Scheme (NSS) using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcript (SALT). These eight measures were used in a latent profile analysis to identify dual language profiles. Results: The optimal model represents a four-profile solution, including a Spanish-dominant group (average Spanish, low English), an English-dominant group (low Spanish, average English), and two balanced groups (a balanced-average group and a balanced-high group). Additionally, participants displayed uneven performance across language domains and distinct patterns of unique strength or weakness in a specific domain in one of their two languages.Conclusions: Findings from this study demonstrated large within-group variability in both English and Spanish oral language abilities in school-aged Spanish-speaking ELs. The presence of an English-dominant group in this sample challenged a common assumption that ELs are more proficient in their home language compared to English. These findings emphasized the importance of assessing both languages in multiple domains to paint a representative picture of a bilingual child’s language abilities.

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Effects of a Supplemental Spanish Phonological Awareness Intervention on Latinx Preschoolers' Dual Language Emergent Literacy Skills

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2020_ajslp-20-00029 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 1283-1300

Author(s):

Xigrid T. Soto ◽

Andres Crucet-Choi ◽

Howard Goldstein

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Phonological Awareness ◽

Emergent Literacy ◽

Language Learners ◽

Literacy Instruction ◽

Dual Language ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Dual Language Learners ◽

Probe Design ◽

Emergent Literacy Skills

Purpose Preschoolers' phonological awareness (PA) and alphabet knowledge (AK) skills are two of the strongest predictors of future reading. Despite evidence that providing at-risk preschoolers with timely emergent literacy interventions can prevent academic difficulties, there is a scarcity of research focusing on Latinx preschoolers who are dual language learners. Despite evidence of benefits of providing Latinxs with Spanish emergent literacy instruction, few studies include preschoolers. This study examined the effects of a supplemental Spanish PA and AK intervention on the dual emergent literacy skills of at-risk Latinx preschoolers. Method A multiple probe design across four units of instruction evaluated the effects of a Spanish supplemental emergent literacy intervention that explicitly facilitated generalizations to English. Four Latinx preschoolers with limited emergent literacy skills in Spanish and English participated in this study. Bilingual researchers delivered scripted lessons targeting PA and AK skills in individual or small groups for 12–17 weeks. Results Children made large gains as each PA skill was introduced into intervention and generalized the PA skills they learned from Spanish to English. They also improved their English initial sound identification skills, a phonemic awareness task, when instruction was delivered in Spanish but with English words. Children made small to moderate gains in their Spanish letter naming and letter–sound correspondence skills and in generalizing this knowledge to English. Conclusion These findings provide preliminary evidence Latinx preschoolers who are dual language learners benefit from emergent literacy instruction that promotes their bilingual and biliterate development.

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Discriminant Validation of the Test of Reading Performance (TORP) for Identifying Children at Risk of Reading Difficulties

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027//1015-5759.16.2.139 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 139-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Padeliadu Susana ◽

Georgios D. Sideridis

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Elementary School Students ◽

Reading Difficulties ◽

Reading Performance ◽

Low Achievers ◽

Children At Risk ◽

School Students ◽

Students At Risk ◽

Group A ◽

The Mean

Abstract This study investigated the discriminant validation of the Test of Reading Performance (TORP), a new scale designed to evaluate the reading performance of elementary-school students. The sample consisted of 181 elementary-school students drawn from public elementary schools in northern Greece using stratified random procedures. The TORP was hypothesized to measure six constructs, namely: “letter knowledge,” “phoneme blending,” “word identification,” “syntax,” “morphology,” and “passage comprehension.” Using standard deviations (SD) from the mean, three groups of students were formed as follows: A group of low achievers in reading (N = 9) including students who scored between -1 and -1.5 SD from the mean of the group. A group of students at risk of reading difficulties (N = 6) including students who scored between -1.5 and -2 SDs below the mean of the group. A group of students at risk of serious reading difficulties (N = 6) including students who scored -2 or more SDs below the mean of the group. The rest of the students (no risk, N = 122) comprised the fourth group. Using discriminant analyses it was evaluated how well the linear combination of the 15 variables that comprised the TORP could discriminate students of different reading ability. Results indicated that correct classification rates for low achievers, those at risk for reading problems, those at risk of serious reading problems, and the no-risk group were 89%, 100%, 83%, and 97%, respectively. Evidence for partial validation of the TORP was provided through the use of confirmatory factor analysis and indices of sensitivity and specificity. It is concluded that the TORP can be ut ilized for the identification of children at risk for low achievement in reading. Analysis of the misclassified cases indicated that increased variability might have been responsible for the existing misclassification. More research is needed to determine the discriminant validation of TORP with samples of children with specific reading disabilities.

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