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This research project explores the relationship between the use of culturally sensitive reading material and reading comprehension among Spanish-speaking language minority students of elementary school age. Text includes Spanish and English transcriptions of stories.

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No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The goal of this project is to help teachers create a motivation-enhancing literacy environment that increases students' reading ability, improves the understanding of written material, fosters a love of reading, and develops life-long learners.

Immigration is a contributing factor to population growth in the United States. Ethiopian immigrants who are residing in the United States constitute the second-largest African immigrant group next to Nigeria. The effect of immigrants' identity formation and acculturation process on their social and emotional wellness has drawn behavioral and social scientists' attention. Still, limited research has been devoted to exploring Ethiopian immigrants' acculturation and identity formation processes and how these processes shape 1.5- and second-generation immigrants' perceptions of mental health-related issues. This phenomenological study explored identity formation, acculturation processes, and mental health beliefs in 1.5- and second-generation Ethiopian immigrants. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants. Inductive analysis was used to determine the emergence of 4 themes: (a) participants' acculturation struggle, (b) ethnic identity challenges, (c) protective factors that helped participants to sustain and overcome the challenges and difficulties they faced through the acculturation and identity formation processes, and (d) heritage-based mental health perceptions. These findings have the potential to generate multicultural awareness among immigrants' parents, social workers, educators, policy makers, and mental health providers regarding the challenges young immigrants encounter during the acculturation and ethnic identity formation processes

Administrators and teachers are concerned that English Language Learners (ELLs) in an urban elementary school in a southern part of the United States are not meeting required state standards in reading. Teachers have indicated that they do not always know how to differentiate instruction for ELLs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate teachers' implementation of differentiated instruction for ELLs. This research study was guided by the conceptual framework of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Tomlinson's theory of implementing differentiated instruction. The research questions investigated teachers' perceptions of differentiated instruction and their professional development for mediating instruction for ELLs. Six teachers from Grades 1 to 3 who teach ELLs with limited English-speaking ability and 2 ELL teachers participated in the study. Data were collected from transcribed interviews, open-ended surveys, and lesson plans. Inductive analysis was used to identify themes and commonalities within the collected data. The major themes included that differentiation is crucial for ELL instruction, teachers use varied instructional strategies to meet ELLs' individual needs, and teachers want purposeful and relevant professional development to meet ELLs' academic needs. The findings indicated a need for a professional development that include a systematic approach to differentiated instructional strategies to improve academic achievement for ELLs. A 3-day professional development was designed. The findings of this study and professional development may contribute to positive social change by increasing teachers' use of instructional strategies that align with the district's guidelines to improve learning and achievement for ELLs.

As the population of English language learners (ELLs) in the United States grows, educators, administrators, and policymakers must support effective methods of instruction. Co-teaching, an inclusive special education instructional approach, has recently grown in popularity as a method for providing English as a second language (ESL) support. The research on ESL co-teaching lacks in-depth data about the experiences and relationships of co-teaching teams. The purpose of this heuristic phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and relational dynamics of co-teachers within an English language instructional setting. Friend and Cook's model of collaboration and Siemen's theory of connectivism provided a framework for this study. Through purposeful sampling, 3 ESL and 3 mainstream teachers were identified. Individual interviews and subsequent focus groups yielded information about the lived experiences and perceptions of both the ESL and mainstream teachers. Using Moustakas' heuristic inquiry stages of analysis, the data were analyzed and coded. Four themes emerged: preparation, the value of time, the issues of control, and the dynamics of a co-teaching relationship. The teachers perceived insufficient time as a major barrier to effective preparation and coordination of teaching teams. The participants also indicated additional elements as important to the success of a teaching team: personality, teacher modeling, flexibility, and communication. This study may lead to social change by informing educators, administrators, and policy-makers about (a) implementing the ESL co-teaching model and (b) the supports needed to help ESL and mainstream teachers function effectively in a co-taught classroom.