This critical case study examines elementary school principals' perceptions of language and how those perceptions influence educational opportunities (i.e. curriculum and instruction) provided for English language learners in Southern Arizona elementary schools in two school districts. These schools have an above state average population of second language learners, high levels of student achievement according to the state letter grade and the four-hour English Language Development (ELD) block. This study draws heavily on the notion of language orientations as a conceptual model as proposed by Richard Ruiz (1984, 1994) to better comprehend the complexity of the bilingual education debate, however in this study, the focus is the four-hour ELD block from Arizona’s law ARS 15-752—English Language Education Law. Implications from the research indicate that there is limited principal mediation and inconsistent curriculum and instruction for English Language Learners in the four-hour ELD block. Recommendations for school leadership call for continued professional development on effective second language acquisition practices that are research based and not district initiated, resistance to the alternative language program and advocacy for ELLs.

Efforts to improve education - more concretely science education - by creating fundamental shifts in standards for students and teachers have been launched by educators and policy makers in recent years. The new standards for science instruction address improvements in student learning, program development, assessment, and professional development for teachers, with the goal to prepare US students for the academic demands of the 21st century. The study examined teachers' knowledge and practices in science instruction with English language learning (ELL) students. It also examined relationships among key domains of science instruction with ELL students, as well as profiles of teaching practices. The four domains included: (1) teachers' knowledge of science content, (2) teaching practices to promote scientific understanding, (3) teaching practices to promote scientific inquiry, and (4) teaching practices to support English language development during science instruction. The study was part of a larger 5-year research and development intervention aimed at promoting science and literacy achievement of ELL students in urban elementary schools. The study involved 32 third grade, 21 fourth grade, and 17 fifth grade teachers participating in the first-year implementation of the intervention. Based on teachers' questionnaire responses, classroom observation ratings, and post-observation interviews, results indicated that (1) teachers' knowledge and practices were within the bounds of the intervention, but short of reform-oriented practices and (2) relationships among the four domains existed, especially at grade 5. These findings can provide insights for professional development and future research, along with accountability policies.

The problem addressed in this study is that English Language Learners (ELLs) in a California school district are not meeting the targeted yearly grade level expectations or making the same progress as non-ELL students. Meeting this goal will help close the achievement gap between ELLs and their native-English speaking peers. The purpose of the qualitative study was to explore the local problem and identify how teachers provided academic instruction to support ELLs with academic instruction and investigate perceived causes of the inadequate progress in learning English and the academic content. The research was guided by Vygotsky's theory of development and the social/cognitive interactions with Ladson-Billings' approach to cultural relevance. These theories support how teachers and students maintain an active cognitive and social learning approach. The qualitative study investigated teachers' instructional practices for ELLs through classroom observations and interviews. Purposeful sampling identified 12 potential participants who met the criteria of providing ELL instruction. Four ELL teachers participated through observations and interviews. The data analysis examined, identified, and interpreted themes. Data saturation was reached as no new themes emerged. The following 4 themes resulted: (a) classroom environment, (b) curriculum content, (c) academic language, and (d) differentiation. A 3-Day PD was designed to guide future ELL pedagogy and strategic activity to promote social change by providing educators opportunities to practice research based ELL instructional approaches to teaching. The end goal is for improved academic and social achievements for ELL students.

In 2000, the passage of Proposition 203 in Arizona virtually replaced bilingual education with a Structured English Immersion (SEI ) program. In 2006, the State legislature passed House Bill (HB) 2064 which essentially segregated ELL students for four hours of the school day in an SEI classroom in which English Language Development (ELD) was taught. In 2008, the four-hour SEI block was mandated in public schools across Arizona.This study investigated the lived experiences of public school teachers teaching the four-hour SEI block, the relationship between what these teachers know about second language acquisition and the strategies they utilized, and what they identified as the strengths and weaknesses that resulted from the four-hour SEI block and its implementation.Nine K-12 SEI teachers from one school district in Southern Arizona participated in this study. Qualitative research methodologies were used to collect and analyze data.The results of this study showed that teachers' experiences and teaching strategies were diverse and greatly influenced by their classroom composition, professional development, interpretation of the laws surrounding the program, and directives given by administrators. Findings from this research also indicated that teachers identified substantially more concerns than advantages related to the four-hour SEI program. Specifically, teachers thought the SEI classroom provided a safe environment in which students could practice English. However, teachers were concerned about the negative social and academic repercussions experienced by ELLs as a result of the SEI program and also expressed their own professional concerns related to the four-hour model.

Technology is advancing at a rapid pace and more digital tools find their way into theclassrooms as a means for educational purposes. The English language has also taken morespace in our everyday life and is almost a necessity in today's global society. However, canthe teachers in the Swedish educational society keep up with the rapid growth of both thesesubjects? The aim with this study is to get a better understanding about teachers’ perspectiveand knowledge about digital tools as an aid for English language development for younglearners, as well as what challenges and benefits they find with using digital tools as a meansfor English language development.This study will present a summary of theoretical and literature background regarding the topicat hand. The data for this study was collected through interviews with five K-3 teachers infour different schools located in south of Sweden. The result showed that a majority of thefive interviewed teachers, saw digital tools to be beneficial in the English classroomenvironment, and they had a positive view on English as a subject and its importance foryoung learners. However, the data collected exposed that the absence of guidelines,inadequate knowledge about how to use the tools within an educational approach,malfunctioning equipment and the lack of time to teach and plan the lessons was a substantialdilemma

With the ratification of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) in 2006, states were required to permit public schools to provide varying levels of intervention for students who showed that they were struggling in one or more core educational areas (Department of Education 300.307(a) (2), 2006). This recommendation supported the use of the framework known as Response to Intervention (RtI) that was familiar in the research literature (Department of Education, 2006). The theoretical framework chosen to support the RtI process in which three RtI programs are being analyzed is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is a theory that suggests interventions initiated to create improvement for an area in which a person has learning or developmental challenges needs to be carefully evaluated individually with each case and then a series of proactive responses to the data are initiated with the goal of having the individual experience improvement and growth (Axelrod, 2012). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to compare the CST reading proficiency scores of socio-economically challenged middle school students who participated in one of three interventions: low reading students who participated in an intensive reading program, low reading students who participated in the English Language Development (ELD) program, and low reading students who only participated in a Sustained Silent Reading program. The methodology chosen was a quasi-experimental study because there were three independent variables: the Intensive Intervention Group (II), the English Language Development Intervention Group (ELD), and the Silent Sustained Reading Intervention Group (SSR). A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted on all three independent variables using the dependent variable to establish any significant differences and to measure any possible academic mean growth. Two research questions were analyzed, including how the three groups scores would compare using the MANOVA and the impact of the interventions when comparing sixth, seventh, and eighth graders to each other as separate groups. The results indicate that the use of Applied Behavior Analysis Creating research based intervention systems at the middle school can have positive results and can justify utilizing financial resources at the middle school level to provide RtI systems.

Abstract In this study, the role-playing game Final Fantasy 7 was analysed in regards of its qualities for English language development. Areas concerning language, specifically vocabulary, and video games explored in this study were academic words, words that express time, collocations, frequency, and keywords. Other areas investigated in this study are video games in connection to the syllabus for English, students’ outside of school interests, and implications for teaching. Data from a corpus-based vocabulary analysis showed that the players of Final Fantasy 7 will encounter a rich variety of words and linguistic features. Further, the text of Final Fantasy 7 shares a lot of the same qualities with texts from English 5 and 6, concerning academic words. Although, an analysis of keywords in the game and in the school texts also showed some differences, mainly in terms of grammatical variations, which indicate that Final Fantasy 7 can function as a complement to typical school texts.

As the population of English Language Learners (ELLs) continues to grow in schools, so does the concern for their lack of academic progress and the possible inequitable representation of this culturally and linguistically diverse population in special education (Artiles, Rueda, Salazar, & Higareda, 2005; Guiberson, 2009; Mac Swan & Rolstad, 2006; Rinaldi & Samson, 2008). Of particular concern is the increase of ELLs with an eligibility of Specific Learning Disability (SLD), especially when examined at the local level (Klinger, Artiles, & Barletta, 2006). To understand this phenomenon at the local level, this mixed-method study examined ELLs with SLD in a large California urban school district by targeting English language development (ELD) at the macro and micro level. The researcher accomplished this focus by examining the relationship between English language proficiency levels, grade levels, and type of learning disorder among kindergarten through twelfth grade ELLs with SLD. The researcher analyzed cumulative educational records of three eighth grade ELLs with SLD, including Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs), to examine how ELD needs have been addressed. The results of the quantitative portion of this study revealed greater distribution patterns of ELLs with SLD in sixth through ninth grades. The researcher also found ELLs with SLD to be primarily represented in the early stages of ELD (beginning, early intermediate, and intermediate) and identified with an auditory processing disorder. Results of the case studies also revealed that after nine years of ELD instruction, the students had not reclassified as English proficient and documented evidence of ELD instruction and support was minimal.