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An Analysis of Services Available to Dual Language Learners and Their Families at Head Start
No full textThis study addressed gaps in current research on the types of services that Head Start provided for dual language learners (DLLs) and whether the Head Start’s DLL services would be related to the Head Start program goals, DLL parents’ involvement, and family-school partnership. This study used the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2009) to address these gaps. Two types of Head Start’s DLL services emerged: family/adult focus and child ESL focus. The services with family/adult focus were related to the program goals of providing the families with language and educational support whereas the services with child ESL focus were related to the program goals of connecting the families with the communities’ resources and services. Further, services with family/adult focus were related to greater parent involvement and family-school partnership than services with child ESL focus. Research and practical implications are discussed
Language or Cognition? Using Culturally Responsive Teaching with English Language Learners
Get PDFThis paper looks into the population of English language learners and the benefits of culturally responsive teaching in addressing their needs. Urban schools are becoming increasingly diverse. Students from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds are entering classrooms and being taught by White, middle class, monolingual teachers (Landsman & Lewis, 2012). Engagement and motivation are integral parts of ensuring the academic success of diverse students. Therefore, teachers must find ways to understand and relate to their students’ backgrounds in an effort to increase student achievement. Culturally responsive teaching amongst English language learners allows teachers to use students’ linguistic diversity as an asset to their learning instead of as a limitation. This paper recognizes the presence of an achievement and opportunity gap between English language learners and their peers on high-stakes tests. The increased presence of English language learners in mainstream classrooms is making it necessary for teacher preparation programs at the college/university level to address their cultural and linguistic needs. This paper explores the concept of culturally responsive teaching as a way of ensuring the academic success of English language learners.
Keywords: English language learners, culturally responsive teaching, diversit
The Effects of a Whole-Classroom Repeated Book Reading Intervention on the Language Development of Children in Head Start
Get PDFLanguage development is enhanced by children’s opportunities to actively engage in meaningful language interactions with adults. This study employed a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental group design to examine the effectiveness of a repeated book reading approach and its impact on children’s language development. Participants included the children in four Head Start classrooms from a rural Midwestern Head Start program whose teachers had been trained to use the repeated book reading approach. At the end of the intervention, children who had experienced the repeated book reading approach registered significant gains in their discourse ability scores compared to children in the control condition. Further, they experienced growth in their vocabulary compared to their scores at the beginning of the year. This study extends previous research findings and informs early childhood practice by providing a repeated book reading model which preschool teachers can use to promote essential language skills
Video Self Reflection
Get PDFThe purpose of this research study was to analyze the teacher’s ability to utilize video self-reflection as a structured learning tool to enhance their teaching practice and CLASS scores. Research has demonstrated that teachers are better able to be self-reflective when provided with a framework (Calandra, Gurvitch, & Lund, 2008). Results from the present study indicated that the teachers became increasingly aware of the CLASS Toddler tool criteria through scoring their own behaviors, which impacted their instructional practices with children and led to increase reliability in scoring and increased CLASS scores
Premises and Challenges of High-Stakes Examinations: National Higher Education Entrance Examination Mathematics Test Scores in China
Get PDFInternational comparative studies suggest that students from countries with high-stakes examinations often perform better than students from other countries. Nowadays more and more countries, including the United States, are implementing high-stakes examinations at the national or state levels. In this paper, we use the National Higher Education Entrance Examination (NHEEE) in China as an example to illustrate the premises and challenges of high-stakes examinations. NHEEE, commonly known as Gaokao, is the only measure used in China to determine if and which college a high school graduate is admitted to. This study examines the reliability and validity of scores obtained from the 2014 mathematics test of this critical examination that determines the future of thousands of students in China. Results of the Rasch analysis indicated that the unidimensionality assumption was tenable. The results also showed that the item reliability and separation were satisfactory, but the person reliability and separation were low. The low person separation reliability indicates that the exam is not sensitive enough to distinguish between low- and high-performing students. Examination of the person-item map suggested a need for more items at the intermediate and difficult levels to improve the reliability and validity of the test scores and to match the students\u27 ability levels. Results showed that the majority of items displayed little or no DIF between male and female students. Predictive aspects of validity are also reported
