The growing Latino/a population is generating an influx of students with different educational needs into U.S. public schools. As a result, educators are faced with the challenge of teaching basic skills to second-language learners (SLL) while simultaneously promoting the development of their second language. Despite the fact that SLL from Spanish-speaking backgrounds are about twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be reading below average for their age (Moss & Puma, 1995), research on second-language children's reading is limited in scope and quantity. The limited research has indicated that the reading rate of SLL might be slower than that of native-English speakers (Geva, Wade-Woolley, & Shaney, 1997; Mace-Matluck, 1979). This study was conducted with the purpose of (a) examining SLL weekly rates of growth (slopes) in reading, (b) comparing these rates to those demonstrated by of native-English speakers in a study conducted by Fuchs, Fuchs, Hamlett, Walz, and Germann (1993), and (c) understanding whether certain factors typically discussed in the educational literature on SLL contribute to positive slopes in reading. The sample was composed of SLL in second through fourth grade (n = 69) attending two urban elementary schools in Western Massachusetts. Grade-level Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) English reading probes were administered to children once a week for 12-weeks. A z-test for independent samples was used to compare slopes found in the present study and those found by Fuchs et al. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the degree of influence of proficiency in English and/or Spanish, age, Spanish reading fluency, and language(s) used for reading instruction on weekly outcomes in reading. Both descriptive and correlational research methods were used to answer these questions. The pattern of reading growth across grades identified in the present study suggests that SLL make the most dramatic reading growth in the later grades (i.e., fourth grade). Proficiency in English and/or Spanish, age, Spanish reading fluency, and language(s) used for reading instruction together explained only 18% of the variance of the slopes. Hypothesis regarding explanations for these results, limitations to the study and future research directions are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-2166 |
| Date | 01 January 2002 |
| Creators | Zorrilla-Ramirez, Claudia |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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