This study modifies Cummins' (1997) theoretical framework of minority student
achievement and social power relations to account for differences in educational
achievement among different identifiable subgroups of the ESL population. This
framework provides the conceptual structure for a multidimensional understanding of
ESL academic achievement (e.g. Gonzales, 2001) whereby the mediating influence of the
broad social power relations between dominant and minority groups, students' individual
characteristics, including personal abilities, experiences and socio-demographic
backgrounds, interacts with ecologies, including educational structures such as curricula,
curricular organization, school populations and the policy environment to influence
educational trajectories.
This study employs descriptive, bi-variate, and logistic and multiple regression to
perform secondary analysis on data describing the academic trajectories of the ESL
students (n=7 527) of British Columbia's 1997 grade eight cohort (n=48 265). It
compares the results to a native English speaker (NES) baseline. ESL students are
disaggregated by ethno-cultural background, English proficiency, gender, age on entry to
the BC school system, and socio-economic status. School population effects are also
considered. The dependent variables are five and six-year graduation rates, and
participation and performance across academic subjects.
Results show that identifiable ethno-cultural subgroups of ESL students navigate widely
varying academic trajectories. English proficiency and gender differences also affect
achievement, more so in already under-achieving ethno-cultural groups. Later ages of
entry generally prove advantageous for some groups in mathematics and the sciences but
predict diminished outcomes in the humanities for all groups. Socio-economic effects
only partially account for differences among ethno-cultural groups. School composition
also has minimal effect. Most ethno-cultural groups have higher academic participation
rates but lower performance scores than NESs. ESL graduation rates are more stable
across socio-economic strata than NES graduation rates.
The need to disaggregate data for research and decision-making, and to target support
toward under-performing student groups is discussed. While ESL students perform well
in aggregate, lower outcomes of identifiable subgroups are masked. The study concludes
with a call for more refined data, and for further methodologically advanced research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/687 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Garnett, Bruce William |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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