Francesca López

¡Vamos! How School Leaders Promote Equity and Excellence for Bilingual Students

Background: Focusing on culturally and linguistically diverse students, this article presents a narrative synthesis of empirical evidence guiding school leaders to promote educational equity and excellence. Research Design: This study employs a tripartite theoretical model that emphasizes cultivating language proficiency, providing access to high-quality curriculum, and promoting sociocultural integration. Using this as an organizing framework, the article presents a review of 79 empirical articles published from 2000 to 2010. Findings: The article explains how school leaders can use research literature to craft effective and integrated service delivery for their culturally and linguistically diverse students.

State Implementation of Language Acquisition Policies and Reading Achievement Among Hispanic Students

National Assessment of Educational Progress data were analyzed to assess differences in reading achievement for Hispanic fourth graders across states with varying policies on language acquisition, controlling for student and school characteristics. Results indicated that (a) both Hispanic English language learner (ELL) and non-ELL students in states with stronger bilingual emphasis and more Title III funding have significantly higher reading achievement, (b) more preservice training on ELL issues and more professional development for working with diverse students had a significant effect on reading achievement among non-ELL Hispanics only, and (c) additional time to institutionalize immersion approaches did not narrow the reading achievement gap.

The Nongeneralizability of Classroom Dynamics as Predictors of Achievement for Hispanic Students in Upper Elementary Grades.

This study examined the degree to which teacher behaviors established as predictors of achievement generalize to Hispanic students. Participants included 995 students (68% Hispanic) across Grades 3 through 5 and their teachers (N = 46) in an urban school district in the Midwest. Classroom dynamics were measured using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (La Paro, Pianta, & Hamre, 2008). Achievement measures included standardized reading assessments administered at the end of the school year. Controls included beginning of the school year assessment scores and eligibility for free lunch. Consistent with prior studies, several teacher behaviors were associated with achievement for the non-Hispanic sample; however, the teacher behaviors did not generalize to the Hispanic sample. Implications for using classroom observations that do not reflect the norms of the target population to enhance accountability and assess professional development are presented, and considerations for addressing classroom observation measures are discussed.

Developmental Considerations and Acculturation of Children: Measures and Issues

This article presents the secondary validation of the Brief Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (Brief ARSMA-II) for use with children— carried out using two samples of Mexican-descent children (ages = 9-11) from two states ( N = 295). The Brief ARSMA-II was originally normed on adolescents and adults but has been validated and used with children. Ethnic identity development perspectives suggest that the interpretation of scores derived from acculturation measures normed on adolescents and adults may not extend accurately to children. Convergent validity and differential discrimination between groups were examined using scores on the Brief ARSMA-II; scores on an acculturation measure designed for the present study, the Things About Me (TAM); and traditional proxy measures of acculturation. Results from this study do not support the use of the Brief ARSMA-II with children. The importance of considering contextual effects in the interpretation of scores of childrens acculturation experience is discussed.

A Story within a Story: Culturally Responsive Schooling and American Indian and Alaska Native Achievement in the National Indian Education Study

There have been numerous calls to increase quantitative studies examining the role of culturally responsive schooling (CRS) on American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) achievement. The National Indian Education Study (NIES) is the only large-scale study focused on (AIAN) students’ cultural experiences within the context of schools. Given that NIES also includes achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), it has the potential to inform and guide policy directed specifically toward AIAN students. To examine ways NIES might potentially inform policy, the present study examined the degree to which AIAN student experiences as reflected in NIES are associated with achievement on NAEP. We then examined NIES against a CRS framework and found that NIES could inform policy to the detriment of AIAN students.

The Relationship Among Measures of Written Expression Using Curriculum-Based Measurement and the Arizona Instrument to Measure Skills (AIMS) at the Middle School Level

The authors examined the predictor–criterion relationship between measures of written expression using spring curriculum-based measures (W-CBM) and the spring administration of the state-mandated high-stakes test the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) in writing. Students (N = 83) in Grades 6, 7, and 8 wrote expressive narratives for 3 min that were scored according to the number of correct word sequences. There was a moderate effect for W-CBM scores in predicting AIMS writing for both 7th and 8th grades, but the effect for 6th grade was negligible. Also examined for each grade level were contingency tables for W-CBM cut scores associated with a minimum passing score on AIMS. The authors present implications for classroom use and suggestions for future research.

Latino Acculturation and Perceived Educational Achievement: Evidence for a Bidimensional Model of Acculturation among Mexican-American Children

Considerable attention has been paid to the educational fate of Latino children and youths due to mounting evidence that their educational progress has been stagnant. This study investigates the effect of acculturation on perceived educational achievement among Mexican-American children, employing bidimensional acculturation theory to help explain acculturation patterns as related to both ethnic and mainstream identities. Using a sample of 294 Mexican-American children, five acculturation patterns were identified using cluster analysis. We found that the separated group of children had significantly higher educational achievement than the highly assimilated group. The study asserts that the segregated acculturation pattern can be protective for educational achievement of Mexican-American children within ethnically segregated environmental contexts.

Language Modeling and Reading Achievement: Variations across Different Types of Language Instruction Programs.

This study investigated the degree to which the quality of teachers’ language modeling contributed to reading achievement for 995 students, both English language learners and native English speakers, across developmental bilingual, dual language, and monolingual English classrooms. Covariates included prior reading achievement, gender, eligibility for free lunch, and ethnicity. A 2-level hierarchical linear modeling analysis revealed that (a) prior achievement, Latino ethnicity, and eligibility for free lunch contributed significantly to the model but gender did not; (b) students gained 3 points for each unit increase in the quality of language modeling across classrooms; and (c) reading achievement for English language learners was not significantly different than that for native English-speaking students. In addition, cross-level interactions revealed that the slope of the quality of language modeling and reading achievement for students in monolingual English classrooms and developmental bilingual classrooms was stronger than that for students in dual language classrooms. We discuss classroom implications of bilingualism and language modeling in improving reading outcomes.

Examining the Trajectory of Differentially Skilled First Graders' Reading Fluency of Words in Isolation and in Context.

The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental trajectory of speed and accuracy of words in context and in isolation among skilled, average, and less skilled readers (N = 201). The authors assessed fluency of words read in isolation and in contextual measures in the fall, winter, and spring of 1st grade. They performed a multivariate repeated measures profile analysis on the 2 fluency measures representing the number of words read correctly in 1 min. Based on Wilkss criterion, the profiles deviated significantly from parallelism. The 3 reading skill groups had different profiles on the 2 fluency measures, and there were differences on the fluency measures among groups. An interaction-contrasts analysis resulted in a significant interaction among the different reading skills groups and their fluency on the measures of words in isolation and words in context across time. Proficient readers used context from the beginning of the school year and were markedly more fluent by the end of the year when context was present than when it was not. For average readers, context was not helpful at the beginning of 1st grade; by spring, average readers performed moderately better on paragraphs than on word lists. Less skilled readers, however, did not use context to aid in fluency as evidenced by their higher scores on word lists across the school year. The authors discuss the findings in the context of prior research.

Creating Composite Age Groups to Smooth Percentile Rank Distributions of Small Samples

Individually administered tests are often normed on small samples, a process that may result in irregularities within and across various age or grade distributions. Test users often smooth distributions guided by Thurstone assumptions (normality and linearity) to result in norms that adhere to assumptions made about how the data should look. Test users, however, may come across particular tests or sets of data in which the Thurstone assumptions are untenable. When users expect deviations from normality within age or grade, an alternate method is desirable. The authors present a relatively simple procedure that allows the user to treat observed raw scores as ordinal data with differently shaped sample distributions across age levels. Each age-level group is used twice to create new moving composite group distributions that replace (i.e., smooth) the original groups to reduce irregularities due to the small sample sizes. The authors present the results of a simulation study of the method, demonstrating that moving composite groups ameliorate error introduced by small samples beyond applying the normalized inverse to a score distribution. The method presented might satisfy those who question whether their data meet the strong assumptions of normality and interval-level measurement, and the simplicity might encourage smoothing by additional users.