Beverly J. Irby

Accelerating Early Academic Oral English Development in Transitional Bilingual and Structured English Immersion Programs

The authors examined the effectiveness of a 2-year (kindergarten and first grade) oral English intervention provided to 534 Hispanic English-language learners in transitional bilingual education (TBE) and structured English immersion (SEI) programs. Using latent growth modeling, the authors compared instructional programs in relation to growth trajectories and rates in academic English oracy. The findings revealed that students in all four programs (treatment TBE, control TBE, treatment SEI, and control SEI) improved significantly (p < .05) in a linear pattern over 2 years, and students receiving the intervention developed at a faster rate than those receiving typical instruction (p < .05, effect sizes >0.46). The authors concluded that (a) first-language instruction did not impede the learning of a second language, and (b) enhancements and best practices in TBE and SEI programs are needed to accelerate oral English acquisition to remove the initial disadvantage of low levels of English proficiency.

The synergistic leadership theory

Modernist theories in leadership were traditionally dominated by masculine incorporation and lacked feminine presence in development and language. The synergistic theory of leadership (SLT) seeks to explicate the need for a post‐modernist leadership theory by providing an alternative to, and not a replacement for, traditional theories. Six aspects particular to the SLT influence the ideas and include issues concerning diversity and the inclusion of the female voice in the theory. Four factors are key to the relational and interactive nature of the theory, which provides a useful framework for building and understanding the interdependent relationships. In a tetrahedron model, the theory uses four factors, including leadership behavior, organizational structure, external forces, and attitudes, beliefs, and values to demonstrate aspects not only of leadership but its effects on various institutions and positions. Developed through a qualitative approach, the theory has been validated qualitatively and quantitatively nationwide and is currently being validated internationally.

Two-Way Immersion Bilingual Programs in Texas.

Abstract This article summarizes the results from the first statewide study of two-way immersion (TWI) programs for English language learners. The survey was conducted electronically with 304 Texas bilingual/English as a Second Language directors in districts that serve English language learners. Data are reported for the following research question: What information can be identified about TWI programs in Texas, specifically: (a) number of districts reporting TWI programs, (b) program types, (c) grade levels served, (d) number of classrooms at each grade level, (e) languages of instruction, (f) distribution of native Spanish and native English speakers, (g) TWI program by regional educational service center, and (h) years of implementation? This article concludes with implications for further research related to TWI programs in Texas and the United States.

Integrating Literacy and Science for English Language Learners: From Learning-to-Read to Reading-to-Learn.

ABSTRACT The authors examined the impact of 2 subsequent, longitudinal interdisciplinary interventions for 58 Hispanic English language learners (ELLs): (a) Grade 5 science with English language/reading embedded (i.e., science intervention) and (b) K–3 English language/reading with science embedded (i.e., language/reading intervention). Results revealed that (a) in the science intervention treatment ELLs outperformed their counterparts in English-reading fluency, knowledge of word meaning, and science and reading achievement; (b) in the language/reading intervention treatment ELLs continued to develop faster than their peers in English oracy, reading fluency, and comprehension; (c) ELLs benefited more from the science intervention if they received the prior language/reading intervention. We conclude that for ELLs, the integration of science and English language/reading should primarily focus on reading in elementary grades and science in Grade 5.

The Effects of an Instructional Intervention on Dual Language Development Among First-Grade Hispanic English-Learning Boys and Girls: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT In this article, we explore oral and reading development in Spanish and English for a sample of 70 first grade Hispanic English-learning boys and girls receiving a longitudinal English intervention and a comparison group of 70 boys and girls. Students were assessed at the outset of kindergarten and first grade, and the exit of first grade. Results showed that, on average, treatment students scored significantly better in dual oracy and Spanish literacy than control students. Girls demonstrated a faster rate in dual reading comprehension than did their boy counterparts. When the effects of treatment and gender were jointly examined, it is apparent that the treatment effect contributed to a larger proportion of variance compared to gender.

Teachers' Pedagogical Differences During ESL Block Among Bilingual and English-Immersion Kindergarten Classrooms in a Randomized Trial Study

Using a low-inference observational instrument, the authors empirically described and compared pedagogical behaviors in bilingual and structured English-immersion programs serving Spanish-speaking English language learners in a large urban school district in Southeast Texas. The two programs included both intervention/control of each type during ESL block. The 9,508 observations were collected four times during the kindergarten year from 54 classrooms in 23 schools. Findings indicated that within the English-immersion program, teachers in experimental, as opposed to control, classrooms allocated more instructional time (p < 0.01) in (a) cognitive areas and expressive-language-related tasks in English, (b) teacher-ask/student-answer types of activities, (c) academic visual scaffolding and leveled questions, and (d) encouraging student interactions. Similar differences were found in teachers between experimental and control bilingual classrooms.

Editor’s Overview: Mentoring, Tutoring, and Coaching

This issue of Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning Journal includes research from scholars representing the USA (nine states) and England. The authors provide further development of the concepts of mentoring, tutoring, and coaching. As I read these papers, I considered more deeply the similarities and differences among the three concepts of mentoring, tutoring, and coaching. Certainly, the three are related, but there are differences among them. In general, mentors can coach, but coaches hardly ever mentor, and mentors and coaches can tutor, but tutors rarely mentor or coach. The lines in the following diagram depict that relationship among the three concepts and the overlapping colors also show that mentoring overlays the two—coaching and tutoring, but the opposite is not the case. Also, in the diagram (Figure 1) are brief differences noted among the three concepts. Following is a brief description of mentoring, coaching, and tutoring. Mentoring is generally long lasting and involves a shared relationship. Additionally, there is a focus on the deeper development of the individual being mentored such as with his/her job goals, self-esteem, and perceived success. A mentee usually is the one who selects a mentor. Coaching is typically focused on a performance event in the coached individual’s life. In a coaching event, the coach may be selected by the individual, but typically, the organization pairs the coach with individual who is perceived as needing coaching. Tutors work on a specific goal for a short-term event; however, the payoff of that goal may impact the future of the tutored individual. For example, there may be a tutor for a second grader in math to help the student to gain confidence and understanding of the second-grade math concepts. The confidence and understanding gained during the tutoring sessions can impact the student’s future attitude toward and achievement in math. Tutors may be assigned by the organization or may be engaged for assistance by the tutee. The lead article by LoCasale-Crouch, Davis, Wiens, and Pianta is about mentoring aspects of an induction program for novice teachers. As indicated in the diagram presented previously, mentoring involved a shared relationship, and in the LoCasale et al. study, mentors’ shared experiences related to mentors who had performed the same job as had the mentees was found to be significant in the mentoring experience. Additionally, mentoring is long term with more time spent with the mentee than would a coach or tutor— that was born out in this study. LoCasale et al. found that time involved Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning Vol. 20, No. 3, August 2012, 297–301

Taking the Lead: One District's Approach to Principal Evaluation

The Administrator Portfolio Appraisal System that this district imple mented addressed many of the concerns related to principal evaluation indicated in the research. Administrators found the system made appraisal relevant and personal and addressed the situational and com plex nature of their jobs.

Editor’s Overview: A 20-Year Content Review of Research on the Topic of Developmental Mentoring Relationships Published in the Mentoring & Tutoring Journal

Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, Volume 22, Issue 3, includes research from scholars representing Australia (Queensland), the United States (Ohio, Oregon, and Washington), and the United Kingdom (England). The authors of the four articles included in this volume have presented their research topics in an area that my graduate research assistant, Nahed Abdelrahman (Egypt) and I researched in Fall, 2013. That area is developmental relationships in mentoring. First, I want to comment on the authors’ work, then, there will be a discussion of the past 20 years of research or positions presented in Mentoring & Tutoring regarding developmental relationships in mentoring which I presented as a keynote at the Mentoring Institute at the University of New Mexico in November, 2013. The work in this volume specifically is related to youth mentoring and also to preservice teachers and their mentors. In the first paper, Strapp, Gilles, Spalding, Hughes, Baldwin, Guy, Feakin, and Lamb presented information on their study, entitled, Changes in Mentor Efficacy and Perceptions Following Participation in a Youth Mentoring Program. They raised the question of how little information about the experience from the mentor’s perspective in youth mentoring programs had been researched and published. They shared a longitudinal assessment of 41 male and female mentors who worked with at-risk youth in a school-based mentoring program. They asked mentors to evaluate relationships and to rate perceived benefits. They found that mentors experienced significant changes in perceptions and efficacy across time and changes predicted relationship satisfaction and perceived benefits. Roach, in his paper, A Helping Hand? A Study into an England-wide Peer Mentoring Program to Address Bullying Behavior, also captured information on youth mentoring. However, this angle of research was produced from the youths’ perspectives. He reported on school peer-mentoring program including children between 9 and 12 years of age who were bullied or at-risk of being bullied along with older student mentors across 22 schools in England. He determined that mentored students reported higher levels of bullying and life satisfaction, and statistically significant higher levels of school satisfaction than did the comparison group at the end of the school year. In the third paper, Maximizing the Potential of Mentoring: A Framework for Pre-service Teacher Education, Ambrosetti, Knight, and Dekkers examine mentoring in the pre-service teacher education context by proposing a theoretically based framework for mentoring in this context. They propose an interesting mentoring framework developed to enable pre-service teacher educators to maximize the potential use of mentoring during the professional placement component of a pre-service teacher education degree. In the final paper, Teachers’ Perceptions of their Mentoring Role in Three Different Clinical Settings: Student Teaching, Early Field Experiences, and Entry Year Teaching,

Inside Transitional Bilingual Classrooms: Accurately Describing The Language Learning Process

Abstract The field of bilingual education lacks reliable methods for accurately describing the instructional process in transitional bilingual classrooms. In this article, a four-dimensional pedagogical model of transitional bilingual education was operationalized and an observation tool created. Pilot-testing of the observation tool occurred in four Grade 5 transitional bilingual classrooms, for the initial purpose of judging interrater reliability and stability of observation-based results over time. Finally, several hypotheses were posed about instruction within the four classrooms, and observation results were used to confirm or challenge these hypotheses. Results demonstrated high interrater reliability, but found that adequate stability over time would require more extensive observations. Most of the hypotheses posed about instruction in the target classrooms were disconfirmed by observation data.