Content Areas: Science

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Comprehension; Content Areas: Math; Content Areas: Science; Content Areas: Social Studies; Content Areas: The Arts; Curriculum; Differentiated Instruction; Fluency; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency; Phonics; Phonological Awareness; Placement; Vocabulary; Writing;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: How do ELL students acquire literacy in a second language?

Findings:

• Instructional approaches that focus on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension-have clear benefits for ELLs. Like their native English speaking peers, ELLs benefit from these strategies as well as writing instruction.
• For students to become literate in English several instructional qualities need to be met including: content coverage, intensity and thorough instruction,
• ELL specific instruction, monitoring learning, and teacher preparation.
• Oral proficiency and literacy in the first language can be used to facilitate literacy development in English.
• Researchers have documented few sociocultural impacts on literacy achievement or development. However, researchers have found that home language experiences can have a positive impact on literacy achievement.

• Link to Full Report

August, D. and Shanahan, T. (2006). Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Center for Applied Linguistics, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.

Tags: Comprehension; Content Areas: Science; Content Areas: Social Studies; Curriculum; Differentiated Instruction; Vocabulary;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: How can teachers integrate language and content in mainstream subject-matter classes to facilitate English language acquisition?

Findings:
Our mainstream subject-matter classes are becoming increasingly linguistically and culturally diverse. It is imperative that subject-matter teachers sensitize their instruction to English language learners' backgrounds and needs and teach subject-matter knowledge through language.

Policy Recommendations:

• Subject-matter teachers should systematically teach discipline-specific language. They should also pay attention to the functional use of language in classroom discussions.
• Teachers should use writing as a tool to promote language development by aligning writing assignments with language-development needs.
• Teachers also need to be aware of students' English proficiency levels and cultural and education backgrounds so they can tailor their instruction to specific language needs.

• Read the Full Report

Dong, Y.R. (2005). Educating language learners: getting at the content. Educational Leadership, 62(4), Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec04/vol62/num04/Getting-at-the-Content.aspx

Tags: Comprehension; Content Areas: Science; Differentiated Instruction; Vocabulary;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the most effective strategies for teaching science to English learners?

Findings:
ELLs need specialized instruction in all content subjects that cater to their language skills.

Policy Recommendations:

• Develop academic language through scientific instruction and sophisticated vocabulary.
• The key to building on ELL experiences and leading them to reading and writing about science is engaging them in purposeful guided instructional conversation.
• Science vocabulary development represents a continuing thread of academic grow for ELLs as they progress in English proficiency.
• Utilize Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) to teach science, with such strategies as: visual aids, demonstrations, pre-reading activities, graphic organizers, and adaptation of textbooks to make the content comprehensible.

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
California Science Project, 3806 Geology Building, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567. It also can be found online at http://csmp.ucop.edu/csp.

Dobb, Fred. (2004). Essential Elements of Effective Science Instruction for English Learners. 2nd edition. California Science Project: Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved from: http://docushare.ycs.k12.pa.us/docushare/dsweb/GetRendition/Document-7526/html.

Tags: Content Areas: Science;

Target Population: Middle School

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What is the current research on effective Science instruction (including vocabulary/first language instruction) and ELLs?
• Which of these methods seems to produce the best results?
• Which intervention (CREATE) is more effective?/ Or what does the research suggest?

Findings:

• Under CREATE intervention 1: Results show that students, all of whom were English language learners in this particular study, performed significantly better on the posttest with vocabulary that they had been explicitly taught using intervention methods than on vocabulary they were exposed to, but not explicitly taught.
• Under CREATE intervention 2: Posttest results of students who had received the intervention showed statistically significant improvement over those who had not received it for both science knowledge and vocabulary.
• Both CREATE interventions were effective in developing the academic vocabulary of English learners. Intervention B, the QuEST intervention, which had an additional focus on building science content knowledge, was successful in accomplishing this goal (August, Branum- Martin, Hagan, & Francis, 2009).
• Combining good science teaching with scaffolding and a focus on language development is an effective method for helping English language learners in science classrooms.

• Read the Full Report

August, D., Artzi, L., & Mazrum, J. (2010, August). Improving Science and Vocabulary Learning of English Language Learners. CREATE. Retrieved January 4, 2011 from: www.cal.org/create/resources/pubs/CREATEBrief_AcademicLanguage.pdf

Tags: Books and Other Reading Materials; Comprehension; Content Areas: Science; Vocabulary;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses:

1. Do accommodation strategies help reduce the performance gap between ELL and non-ELL students? (Effectiveness)
< li>Do accommodation strategies impact the performance of non-ELL students on content-based assessments? (Validity)
2. Do student background variables impact performance on the accommodated assessments? (Differential impact)
3. Are accommodations easy to implement or use? (Feasibility)

Findings:

• Accommodation effectiveness varies by type (ie English dictionary vs. bilingual dictionary vs. linguistic modification);
• Accommodation effectiveness also varies by grade level;
• Accommodation strategies did not impact the general student population, which suggests that the tests remained valid even with the use of accommodations.
• Many background variables were significantly related to performance in the science assessments including time lived in US, initial grade enrollment in US, other schooling outside US, home language of Korean or Spanish, and fealty with spoken English at school.

Policy Recommendations:

• Because bilingual dictionaries yield varying results of benefit, accommodations that are more "pre–packaged" would be more effective, such as linguistic modifications.

• Download full report (128KB PDF)*

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Center for the Study of Evaluation National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing Graduate School of Education & Information Studies University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90095-1522

Abedi, J., Courtney, M., Mirocha, J., Leon, S., and Goldberg, J. (2005). Language Accommodations for English Language Learners in Large-Scale Assessments. National Center for Research on Education, Standards, and Student Testing: Los Angeles, CA.

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Comprehension; Content Areas: Math; Content Areas: Science; Content Areas: Social Studies; Content Areas: The Arts; Curriculum; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: The report uses the example of Coachella school district's legal battle to examine whether state assessments are appropriate accountability measures for English language learners.

Findings:
N/A

Policy Recommendations:
N/A

• Purchase Report

Dillon, N. (2005). Language Test. American School Board Journal, 192(8). National School Boards Association.

Tags: Content Areas: Math; Content Areas: Science; Content Areas: Social Studies; Differentiated Instruction; Intervention; Motivation; Placement; Reading; Struggling Readers; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary; Writing;

Target Population: Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What instructional practices dovetail in both the ELL adolescent literacy literature and non-ELL adolescent literacy literature?

Findings:
Eight instructional approaches are supported in both literatures (what's good for ELL adolescents and adolescent native English speakers):

1. teacher modeling, strategy instruction, and using multiple forms of assessment;
2. emphasis on reading and writing;
3. emphasis on speaking and listening/viewing;
4. emphasis on thinking;
5. creating a learner-centered classroom;
6. recognizing and analyzing content-area discourse features;
7. understanding text structures within the content areas; and
8. vocabulary development.

Policy Recommendations:
Any intervention aimed at ELLs should also benefit under–served learners generally.

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
The Education Alliance at Brown
222 Richmond Street, Suite 300
Providence, RI 02903-4226
Phone: 800.521.9550
Fax: 401.421.7650
E-mail: info@alliance.brown.edu

Meltzer, J. & Hamann, E. (2004). Meeting the literacy development needs of adolescent English language learners. Part two: Focus on classroom teaching and learning strategies. Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory .

Tags: Content Areas: Math; Content Areas: Science; Content Areas: Social Studies; Motivation; Placement; Reading; Struggling Readers; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary; Writing;

Target Population: Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: Review of the literature concerning student motivation and engagement on literacy development of adolescents and research on the schooling of adolescent ELLs.

Findings:

• literacy development and effective instruction for ELL and non-ELL adolescents alike share many commonalities;
• isolated ELL students are further negatively impacted as a result of these findings; and
• content-area teachers may benefit from research and practices designed for ELL teachers

Policy Recommendations:

• Teachers should use current secondary school ELL literature to create a blueprint of classroom contexts in which ELLs will be motivated and engaged to read and write across the content areas, and where reading and writing will contribute to their broader academic achievement.
• Schools should train all secondary–school teachers to promote content–area literacy for ELLs.
• To promote ELLs' or other students' continued development and application of literacy skills for academic learning, educators should plan opportunities that
  1. provide the environmental resources to support the work (i.e., various text materials);
  2. are grounded by high expectations that students can achieve or surpass the state standards and
  3. engage students-that they involve choice, are authentic, promote self–efficacy, and support autonomy.

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
The Education Alliance at Brown
222 Richmond Street, Suite 300
Providence, RI 02903-4226
Phone: 800.521.9550
Fax: 401.421.7650
E-mail: info@alliance.brown.edu

Meltzer, J. & Hamann, E. (2004). Meeting the literacy development needs of adolescent English language learners. Part one: Focus on motivation and engagement. Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory.