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Black Lives Matter in Teaching English as a Second Language!
Get PDFThe Winter 2020 issue of theIllinois Reading Council Journal published a special issue focusing on “action for equity,” with thoughtful articles and abundant family and classroom resources. This issue of the “wELLcome”column, which is dedicated to topics regarding English language learners (ELLs), continues in that same vein. In this issue, we place the spotlight on ELLs of African descent, their teachers, and their schools
The Formation of Teacher Identity through Video Reflections during Teaching Practicum
Get PDFThis study aimed to investigate the identities of pre-service teachers and the effects of teaching practice and video reflections on the identities of pre-service teachers enrolled in the Turkish Language Teaching Department. In this study, a qualitative research design, mainly a case study, was employed. This study was conducted based on the voluntary participation of six senior pre-service teachers enrolled in the Teaching Practicum course in the spring semester of 2019. The data were collected through video reflections, pre-practice and post-practice teaching focus-group interviews. The data were analyzed through a cyclical – reiterative analysis process. The results showed that the identities of pre-service teachers could be grouped under three sub-identities: the subject-matter expert, didactical expert, and pedagogical expert identities. Also, pre-service Turkish Language teachers saw their identity at the beginning as being more cue-based and exemplar-based. However, at the end of the practicum, they heavily displayed rule-based identities due to the requirements of the Turkish educational system or schema-based identities that mainly emerged with the impact of contextual factors and conditions of the practicum schools. The findings of the study were discussed in detail and implications for practice and future research were provided
Understanding African Refugee/Migrant Educational Transitions from Country of Origin to Refugee Camp to the US: Using Life Story Narratives to Compare Educational Experiences
No full textThis retrospective research uses two qualitative studies to understand the assets and barriers of Sub-Saharan African immigrant children who arrive in the US. Many arrive in the United States with an educational gap that is difficult to overcome. The first study interviewed 12 former Sub-Saharan African immigrant students utilizing phenomenological lived story narratives. Comparisons were made between the home country, refugee camp, and the US educational experiences. In this study, the empirical research recognized that US schools made an effort to support newly arrived immigrants by providing ESL, IEP, 504, Bilingual, and Afterschool programs. Many of these programs fell short in integrating Sub-Saharan African immigrant children, given their significant educational gaps. The second study collected interview data from 12 formal or current teachers working with Sub-Saharan African immigrant children. This study helped obtain perspectives of the teachers’ phenomenological experiences, gathering information about their supports and challenges. Study 2 also helped understand the supports and challenges the students received, and what factors might lead to better integrative future solutions, ones that embrace a culturally responsive pedagogy, which can support newcomer Sub-Saharan African immigrant students
The Impact of Using AVID and AVID Schoolwide on Achievement, Equity, Access, and Opportunities for High School Students: A Program Evaluation Project
Get PDFThe purpose of my research was to determine if the use of AVID strategies had any impact on academic achievement and college and career readiness. Additionally, I evaluated whether AVID school-wide can support all students. The context of this study included AVID Teachers and AVID Coordinators across the United States. The outcomes indicated that 80% of AVID students enrolled in the AVID Elective successfully completed rigorous course work. Furthermore, the study outcomes disclosed which strategies supported students the most with academic success. The AVID coordinators often used writing strategies, while the AVID teachers used collaborative strategies to support student learning
Implications of English Learner Grade Level Transitions and the Effect on Middle School Long-term English Language Learners
No full textThis study was an evaluation of the implications of English learner (EL) grade level transitions and the effects on long-term middle school ELs in a suburban school district in Illinois from 2019-2021. The primary research question was focused on determining the cause of long-term ELs not meeting the English proficiency criteria. Using a mixed methods research approach, student data were collected and interviews were conducted with both school administrators and teachers. Results revealed areas that can be improved on to build language acquisition and lower the number of long-term ELs at the middle school level. From this work, recommendations have been made to provide staff with a better understanding of the needs of ELs and available supports as well as ongoing professional development for district staff and administrators. Policy recommendations have also been made to ensure best practices and strategies to support ELs are embedded within the curriculum and policy of the district
Uncovering Roots of Systemic Oppression Within Law Enforcement: A Qualitative Study Exploring Why Police Officers Discriminate Against The Black Community
Get PDF“Uncovering roots of systemic oppression within law enforcement: A qualitative study exploring why police officers discriminate against the Black community.” Rationale for this study is to uncover behavior and psychological reasons to uncover why police discriminate and oppress the Black community with little consequences for their actions. The dominant explanation for this trend uncovers previous research addressing oppression and the structure of institutions such as law enforcement that have relied heavily on past policies and tactics protecting an institution in the United States that has rarely been challenged. Recent riots and civil unrest against law enforcement institutions and dominant laws in society have prompted new research into the nature and behavior of policing in Black communities. Data used in this research project comes from personal accounts of police officer witnessing brutality and oppression in the Black communities they patrol. Former and current police officers have given first-hand accounts and personal experiences of systemic oppression that range from their childhood to the present day.
Contrary to what has often been assumed, modernity is in full force in a nation that has been founded on White supremacy and institutional dehumanization of the American Black race. My findings indicate that the rise of oppression suggests that it is usually the oppressed who must organize to force large-scale changes in systems of oppression. This means that all Americans who support racial justice and equality must organize aggressively and effectively to bring change in White racist thinking and practice, including change in the institutionalized feature of U.S. racism. This is by no means an easy task, for the systemic reality of racism and oppression means that it is deeply entrenched in society. Attacking it will take a huge effort by many people of all backgrounds
Music, Our Human Superpower
Get PDFResearch about music pervades every discipline because music touches every area of life. Studies revealing the salutary effects of music can be found not only in music educator research, but in research in psychology, speech and hearing, child development, neuroscience, and increasingly, health and wellness, aging, rehabilitation and recovery. Since my focus is especially in the areas of language and literacy, I research the positive effects of music on reading, writing, and learning languages - and of this, there is no shortage. In this brief Academia article, I share what I’d like to call an “homage-with-references” to our great Superpower, which - as the recent animated movie Soul attests - gives so much meaning to life, for so many
Closing The English Language Proficiency Gap In Post-Secondary Education In Canada
Get PDFThe proposed research employed a mixed-method approach to investigate why the linguistic standards of the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) (levels 5–8) are deemed satisfactory for English as a second language (ESL) learners at the college level. An examination of the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) identified why an ESL learner with a CLB level of 5–8 requires English support services in post-secondary education to achieve academic success in Canada. The CLB levels of six female participants were analyzed using a questionnaire in reading, writing, listening, and speaking to explore their English levels in articulating the language, pronouncing words, and understanding the meanings in alignment with course materials, assignments, and in-class tasks. Additionally, a focus group discovered a correlation between a participant’s current CLB level and the English support services. The questionnaire and focus group permitted the researcher to discern recurring patterns in their experiences using the English language at the college level
THE IMPACT OF SCHOOL SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A STATEWIDE PRINCIPAL MENTORING PROGRAM
Get PDFThe professional demands on today’s school principal are varied and expansive, and as a result, relevant training and preparation is of utmost importance. Because of these rising demands, principal turnover is not uncommon, especially in low-SES schools. Formalized and strategic principal mentoring, however, has been shown to reduce principal attrition, keeping leaders in their roles and contributing to increased student achievement. This quantitative study examined the responses from school leaders on their experiences in a statewide principal mentoring program and analyzed the connection, in relation to their administrative peers, between their experience as a protégé and their status as a leader in a low- SES system. While no statistical correlation was found between the low-SES status of a leader’s school system and their satisfaction with a statewide mentoring program, leaders did affirm mentoring as a strategy in improving instructional leadership and the value in relational aspects of the program
Mothers\u27 Perceptions of Ability in Children with Intellectual Disability and Mother-Child Connectedness
Get PDFThe mother-child relationship is important in the development of children, especially for children with intellectual disabilities who may have specific needs. Understanding the nuances, such as the closeness of the mother-child relationship for children with intellectual disabilities, is often overlooked even though more than 3 million children under 18 were reported to have an intellectual disability in 2019. Still, very few studies have focused on the relationship between mothers with children with an intellectual disability. With the rise in services provided due to developmental disabilities in children, there was a need to examine mothers’ perceptions of the ability level in their children with an intellectual disability and how these perceptions affect the mother-child relationship. A quantitative nonexperimental methodology using a purposive sample of mothers with children aged 8–12 who were previously diagnosed with intellectual disability (N = 34) was used for this investigation. The NIH Toolbox Parent Report Self-Efficacy Scale (NIH Toolbox) and the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS) were the instruments used to collect data for the independent variable, mothers’ perception, and the outcome variable, mother-child connectedness, respectively. Data were collected on the Survey Monkey platform. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the differences between two groups of mothers’ perceptions and mother-child connectedness. The one-way Welsh ANOVA, a modified version of the ANOVA, reported no statistical significance between the two groups of mothers, Welsh’s F(1, 3.126) = 6.166, p = .086. This result suggests that there is no association between how connected a mother feels toward her child with an intellectual disability and the number of functional impairments that she endorses for that child. Recommendations for future research are indicated