Effects of Curriculum and Teacher Professional Development on the Language Proficiency of Elementary English Language Learner Students in the Central Region. Final Report

摘要

English language learner (ELL) students who speak Spanish as their primary language represent the fastest-growing student group in the nation's public schools (U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics 2007; Planty et al. 2009; Editorial Projects in Education Research Center 2009) as well as in the Central Region. Between 1997/98 and 2007/08, the number of ELL students rose more than 37.2 percent in Colorado, 171.1 percent in Nebraska and 127.6 percent in Kansas (U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students 2010a-d). These demographic changes have led to an increased demand for teachers who are able to effectively address the needs of ELL students in classrooms and ensure that ELL students have the same opportunity to learn as their native English-speaking peers. However, data from the National Center for Education Statistics reveal that the majority of teachers have not been trained in ELL-specific strategies.