Marianne Smith. Helen McGuire. Margaret Bates. Salam Noo

1
Oregon Reading FirstProgress Overall and
Progress with English Language Learners

• Scott K. Baker, Ph.D.
• Pacific Institutes for Research
• University of Oregon
• Institute on Beginning Reading
• Day 2 Focus on English Language Learners
• June 24, 2005

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Reading First English Language
LearnersStudents Who Met the Spring SAT-10 Goal
3
NAEP Reading Performance at Grades 4, 8, and 12
Grade 4
Grade 8
Grade 12
4
NAEP No Decrease in the Reading Gap Over Time
5
Oregon Department of Education

• Kayla Barsted
• Joni Gilles
• Russ Sweet
• Marianne Smith
• Helen McGuire
• Margaret Bates
• Salam Noor

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Oregon Reading First Center

• Carrie Thomas Beck
• Edward J. Kameenui
• Hank Fien
• Trish Travers
• Rachell Katz
• Scott K. Baker
• Barb Gunn
• Josh Wallin
• Janet Otterstedt

• Anna Ingram
• Deni Basaraba
• Jon Hays
• Jennifer Walt
• Marianne Oakes
• Nicole Sherman Brewer
• Katie Tate
• Patrick Kennedy Paine
• Beth Harn

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34 Oregon Reading Fist Schools

• District administrators
• Principals
• Coaches
• K-3 teachers
• ESL teachers
• Special education teachers
• Instructional Assistants

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Oregon Reading First Framework

• What are our reading goals?
• How are we doing?
• How do we get there?

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Oregon Reading First End-of-Year Reading Goals
(in English)
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Reading First English Language
LearnersStudents Who Met the Spring SAT-10 Goal
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Students At Risk in the Fall Who Got On Track by
the Spring
12
Students On Track in the Fall Who Stayed On Track
in the Spring
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Students At Risk in the Fall Who Got On Track by
the Spring
14
Reading First ELL vs. Non-ELL StudentsKindergart
en Spring PSF Benchmark Rates by Fall ISF Risk
Status Group
ns
ns
ns
15
Reading First ELL vs. Non-ELL Students1st Grade
Spring ORF Benchmark Rates by Fall NWF Risk
Status Group
ns
ns

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Reading First English Language Learners The
Relation Between DIBELS and the SAT-10
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Who are English Language Learners?

• Students from language backgrounds other than
  English and with proficiency in English not yet
  developed to the point where they can profit
  fully from English-only instruction (NRC Report,
  1997)

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Academic Programs for ELLs

• Transitional Bilingual Education Instruction in
  primary language during the first few years of
  school goal is transition to English as rapidly
  as possible
• Approximately 50 of ELLs
• English-only programs varying degrees of
  support to help students learn a new language and
  content simultaneously
• Approximately 3040 of ELLs

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Research Base on ELLs

• Lack of useful research partially explains low
  achievement among many ELL groups
• Federal policy with regard to ELLs has been
  based on relatively little research . . . and
  predominance of politics. (NRC Report, p. 23)
• With regard to reading instruction in a second
  language, there is remarkably little direct
  relevant research. (NRP Report, 1997)

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Three Lines of U.S. Research with ELLs

• Basic research bilingualism
• Program evaluations
• School and classroom effectiveness

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Basic research on second-language acquisition and
bilingualism

• Basic research on second-language acquisition and
  bilingualism
• Essentially descriptive in nature
• Not concerned with academic outcomes per se

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Program Evaluation Research

• TBE vs. English-only to address major policy
  question
• Language of instruction
• Focus on academic content and language acquisition

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Program Evaluation Research

• There is little value in conducting evaluations
  to determine which type of program is best. The
  key issue is not finding a program that works for
  all children and all localities but rather
  finding a set of program components that works
  for the children in the community of interest,
  given that communitys goals, demographics, and
  resources (NRC, p. 138)

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Program Evaluation Research

• Significant design limitations of large and small
  scale studies
• Evidence for beneficial effects of
  native-language and structured immersion programs

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School and Classroom Effectiveness

• Descriptions of school and program environments
• Schools and classrooms thought to be effective
• Theoretically driven instruction
• Minimal link to specific instructional practices

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Observation Study on Reading Instruction with
ELLs in Grade 1

• Examples from a 2-year study with English
  Language Learners
• Three objectives
• Collect promising student reading measures with
  ELLs in Grade 1
• Systematically observe beginning reading
  instruction in Grade 1 classrooms
• Investigate the relationship between
  instructional practices in reading and student
  performance on reading measures

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Primary Languages of Participating Students

• Spanish 266 (60)
• English 85 (19)
• Somali 23 (5)
• Vietnamese 19 (4)
• Hmong 16 (4)

• Cambodian 14 (3)
• Cantonese 12 (3)
• Tagolog 5 (.1)
• Chinese 3 (.1)
• Laotian 2 (.1)

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Student Performance Measures

• DIBELS measures at the beginning and end of the
  year
• Phonemic Segmentation Fluency
• Nonsense Word Fluency
• Oral Reading Fluency
• A measure of Reading Comprehension at the end of
  the year

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Systematic Classroom Observations

• Moderate inference instrument
• 30 items rated on a 1-7 scale
• General effectiveness items
• Items specifically targeting effective
  instruction for ELLs
• Items targeting instruction in Reading / Language
  Arts Framework
• Observers w/ expertise in ELLs and beginning
  reading
• All observations for the duration of the 2.5 hour
  reading period

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General Conclusions of Observation Study

• Evidence the primary measures had established
  reliability and predicted outcomes for English
  Language Learners
• Meaningful variability in performance
• Fluency as an index of comprehension
• Ability to predict meaningful outcomes
• Performance patterns that make sense in the
  context of other students
• Providing pictures of growth over time

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General Conclusions of Observation Study

• Evidence that DIBELS measures important reading
  outcomes with English Language Learners
• Initial evidence that outcomes at the end of
  Grade 1 are an important predictor of future
  reading performance for ELLs
• A key issue becomes determining what factors
  lead to successful reading performance at the end
  of Grade 1

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General Conclusions of Observation Study

• Factors that May PredictReading Outcomes
• Reading performance at beginning of the year
• ELL Status i.e., ELL or native English speaker
• Among ELLs -- level of English language
  proficiency
• Reading Instruction throughout the year
• Also possible that some combination of variables
  may interact to achieve best prediction

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General Conclusions of Observation Study

• Explicit Teaching Improves the Odds of Strong
  Reading Outcomes
• Items from the Observation Instrument
• Models skills and strategies during the lesson
• Makes relationships among concepts overt
• Emphasizes distinctive features of new concepts
• Provides scaffolds in how to use strategies,
  skills, and concepts
• Focus of literacy activities changes regularly
• Adjusts use of English to make concepts
  comprehensible

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General Conclusions of Observation Study

• Sheltered Teaching Techniques Improve the Odds of
  Strong Reading Outcomes
• Items from the Observation Instrument
• Uses visuals and manipulatives to teach content
• Provides explicit instruction in English language
  use
• Encourages students to give elaborate responses
• Uses gestures and facial expressions in teaching
  vocabulary and clarifying meaning of content