Quantity and quality of literacy instruction for English language learners in Indiana elementary schools
-
Haiyan Li
,
Wayne E. Wright
and
Trish Morita-Mullaney
Abstract
This research adopts a collective case study to explore the quantity (time allocations for key literacy components and group configurations) and the quality of English language arts (ELA) instruction for Grade 1 English language learners (ELLs) across six classrooms in three Indiana elementary school districts during the 2019–2020 school year. Three teachers (treatment group) were participants in a year-long professional development (PD) program consisting of ELL teacher licensure coursework (plus instructional coaching for two of the treatment teachers). The other three teachers (control group) did not participate in the PD program. Analysis of video-recordings of teachers’ ELA instruction, coded video instances, and time allocations reveal that overall treatment teachers allocated more time for the ELA block, more time for vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency instruction, and in general provided higher quality instruction. The findings provide evidence of the effectiveness of the PD program for improving ELA instruction for ELLs. However, both control and treatment teachers have some discrepancies in the quality and quantity of their literacy instruction compared to evidence-based research. This study holds important implications for literacy educators as they identify and employ strategies best suited for ELLs.
Funding source: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for English Language
Award Identifier / Grant number: T365Z170072
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Research funding: This study was supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for English Language [Grant number: T365Z170072], awarded to Dr. Trish Morita-Mullaney and Dr. Wayne E. Wright. The funding organizations played no role in the study design, the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, the writing of the report or the decision to submit the report for publication.
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Ethical approval: The research related to human use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies, and in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration, and has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Purdue University (IRB 1709019750), “Leveraging the Lectura y Lenguaje Part III: A Collaborative Scale up of Literacy and Language for ELs in Central Indiana.”
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Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all research participants.
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Author contributions: All authors made substantial contributions to the study design, data collection, data analysis. The first author Haiyan Li drafted the paper, and Dr. Wayne E Wright and Dr. Trish Morita-Mullaney revised and approved the final version. All agree to be accountable for all aspects of this work.
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Competing interests: We declare there were no competing interests in the conduct of this study.
Code Book for V-note and Nvivo Analysis
| Literacy components and practices | Categories | Definitions an examples |
|---|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Direct instruction | The teacher provides students with word instruction with no reference to the context |
| In context | The teacher infers the meaning of an unfamiliar word by scrutinizing the text surrounding it | |
| Word study | Teaching about how to look closely at words to discover the conventions of English orthography and increasing cognate awareness. | |
| Sight words | High-frequency words instruction | |
| Phonics | Phonics is the connection between graphemes (letter symbols) and sounds. Sounding out words, phonics exercises (learning consonants and/or vowels), rhyming, etc. | |
| Phonemic awareness | The ability to hear and manipulate the sounds in spoken words. Phonemic awareness involves hearing language at the phoneme level. Blending, segmenting, clapping sounds, initial sounds, sound recognition | |
| Comprehension | Comprehension strategies, graphic organizers, KWL, reciprocal teaching, prediction questions | |
| Fluency | The ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. Teacher-directed guided reading, reading aloud (student reads to teacher), leveled reading, small group reading; independent reading, SSR (Sustained Silent Reading), DEAR (Drop Everything and Read), partner reading | |
| Writing | Modeled/shared writing | Teach writing to students by writing with them. |
| Guided writing | Involving the teacher meeting with a group of students with similar writing needs | |
| Independent writing | Children write by themselves | |
| Worksheet | Indicate content area (e.g., phonics, math, main idea, etc.) | |
| Journals | The process of recording personal reflections and questions on assigned or personal topics | |
| Writer’s workshop | A student-centered framework for teaching writing that is based on the idea that students learn to write best when they write frequently, for extended periods, on topics of their own choosing | |
| Spelling | ||
| Grouping | Whole group | Whole class instruction, provided through teacher-led direct instruction |
| Small group | A minimum of three students work on a task together | |
| Pairs | A pair of students work on a task together, e.g., think-pair-share, turn and talk | |
| Independent | Working on something by themselves (reading, writing, etc.) | |
| Centers/rotations | A physical area (or station) designated for specific learning purposes. | |
| Literacy components and practices | Categories | Definitions an examples |
| Multimodal support | Video | |
| Music-singing | ||
| Other | Other multimodal support not captured, such as the use of manipulatives. | |
| Translanguaging | Home language support | Teachers help students draw on all their linguistic resources as they read, write, and discuss academic subjects in a new language. |
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Novice language teacher identity construction: similarities, differences, and beyond
- The expectations-reality dissonance in student teaching: a discourse analysis of one pre-service teacher’s perspective
- The knowledge-rich project, coloniality, and the preservation of whiteness in schools: a raciolinguistic perspective
- Quantity and quality of literacy instruction for English language learners in Indiana elementary schools
- Plurilingual Chinese learners of French Lx: agentic assembling of semiotic resources for learning
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Novice language teacher identity construction: similarities, differences, and beyond
- The expectations-reality dissonance in student teaching: a discourse analysis of one pre-service teacher’s perspective
- The knowledge-rich project, coloniality, and the preservation of whiteness in schools: a raciolinguistic perspective
- Quantity and quality of literacy instruction for English language learners in Indiana elementary schools
- Plurilingual Chinese learners of French Lx: agentic assembling of semiotic resources for learning
