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Description
ABSTRACT School districts in the United States have undergone large changes over the last decade to accommodate No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Arizona accommodated NCLB through Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS). Expectations were established for all students, varying by group of students based on grade, special education status, free/reduced lunch status, and English Language Learner (ELL) status. AIMS performance for subgroups has been scrutinized, due to the high stakes for schools and districts to meet expectations. This study is interested in the performance of ELL students, when compared with non-ELL students. The current study investigated AIMS performance of students in grades three through six from a large Arizona school district with predominantly low SES, Hispanic students. Approximately 90% of the students from this district were classified as ELL during their first year in the district. AIMS scores in Math and Reading were compared for ELL and non-ELL students across the years 2008, 2009, and 2010. Results suggest that there are differences in performance for ELL and non-ELL students, with ELL students scoring lower in both Math and Reading than non-ELL students. Additionally, ELL and non-ELL students showed similar performance across time in Math, with an increasing number of students Meeting or Exceeding the standards from year 2008 to 2009 for both ELL and non-ELL students. Student performance in Math for ELL and non-ELL students did not continue to improve from 2009 to 2010. On Reading performance, greater proportions of students scored as Meets or Exceeds across time for ELL students but not for non-ELL students. Non-ELL students scored at Meets or Exceeds at equal proportions across time, although non-ELL students scored at Meets or Exceeds in higher proportions than ELL students for all three years. Results suggest the need for continued research into the appropriateness of the AIMS for ELL students and more detailed comparisons of ELL and non-ELL students within and across districts with high proportions of ELL students.
ContributorsChebultz, Lance (Author) / Appleton, Nicholas (Thesis advisor) / Tighe, Paul (Committee member) / Duplissis, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Arizona's English Language Development Model (ELD Model) is intended to increase and accelerate the learning of English by English Language Learners (ELLs), so that the students can then be ready, when they know the English language, to learn the other academic subjects together with their English speaking peers. This model is part of a response to comply with the Flores Consent Order to improve services for ELLs in Arizona public schools. Whether or not it actually has improved instruction for ELLs has been the subject of much debate and, in 2012, after four years of the requirement to use Arizona's ELD Model, the ELL students who were identified as reclassified for the six districts in the study did not pass the Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test. The model's requirement to separate students who are not proficient from students who are proficient, the assessment used for identification of ELLs, and the Structured English Immersion four hours of English only instruction are at the nexus of the controversy, as the courts accepted the separate four hour SEI portion of the model for instruction as sufficient to meet the needs of ELLs in Arizona (Garcia, 2011, Martinez, 2012, Lawton, 2012, Lillie, 2012). This study examines student achievement in Reading and Math as measured by AIMS standards-based tests in six urban K-8 public school districts between 2007-2012. This period was selected to cover two years before and four years after the ELD model was required. Although the numbers of ELLs have decreased for the State and for the six urban elementary districts since the advent of the Arizona ELD Model, the reclassified ELL subgroup in the studied districts did not pass the AIMS for all the years in the study. Based on those results, this study concludes with the following recommendations. First, to study the coming changes in the language assessments and their impact on ELLs' student achievement in broad and comprehensive ways; second, to implement a model change allowing school districts to support their ELLs in their first language; and, finally, to establish programs that will allow ELLs full access to study with their English speaking peers.
ContributorsRoa, Myriam (Author) / Fischman, Gustavo E (Thesis advisor) / Lawton, Stephen B. (Committee member) / Diaz, René X (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012