Volume 1 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Leadership - Page 30

28 scores. The ANOVA resulted in a p –value of less than .001, and it was concluded that the combination of teachers’ years of experience and teachers’ hours of ELL professional de- velopment was statistically significant in predicting ELLs’ STAAR scores. In model 2, teacher knowledge about ELLs and SLA was added to the covariates in the regression equation. The change in the beta–weight was then calculated to de - termine if teacher knowledge was statistically significant in predicting ELLs’ STAAR scores. The results of the second regression equation determined that the change in R 2 of .205 was statistically significant. The ANOVA using teacher experience, teacher professional development, and teacher knowledge resulted in a p –value of less than .001, and it was concluded that model 2 was statistically significant in pre - dicting ELLs’ STAAR scores. InModel 3, teachers’ attitudewas entered into the regres - sion equation with the three previous variables. The results of the third regression equation determined that the change in R 2 of .001 was not statistically significant. A teachers’ at - titude about ELLs and SLA was not statistically significant in predicting ELLs’ STAAR scores on their own. However, when the ANOVA was conducted for model 3, a p –value of less than .001 was obtained and it was concluded that model 3, with all four independent variables included, was statisti - cally significant in predicting ELLs’ STAAR scores. Implications Teachers’ Years of Experience The first finding of the study was that teachers’ years of experience was a strong predictor of ELLs’ STAAR scores. However, some of the most experienced secondary teach - ers surveyed had some of the lowest ELL STAAR scores and two of the least experienced secondary teachers surveyed had two of the highest ELL STAAR scores. Teachers with six to 10 years of experience showed the largest cluster of high performing ELLs. Although years of experience was statistically important, there may be a point where years of teaching experience has less of an impact on the STAAR scores of ELLs. Campus administrators must be careful not to assume that a teacher is the best teacher for ELLs, or other struggling students, just because he or she has several years of experi- ence. The instruction of ELLs is still a relatively new learn - ing process for some educators, and sometimes older, more experienced teachers may be more resistant to change and/ or have less knowledge about ELLs than less experienced teachers. Additionally, the influx of ELLs into our country has caused a change in the curriculum of some college teach- er preparation programs. New teachers to the profession are entering the teaching field with more knowledge about educating ELLs than current teachers may have. Kevin Dixon, Ed.D.