Volume 1 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Leadership - Page 35

Journal for K-12 Educational Leadership 33 erenced written test, and received a subjective teacher eval - uation (Texas Education Agency, 2013b). ELLs are expected to meet federal and state standards in mathematics (Moores, 2004). All sixth, seventh, and eighth grade ELLs in the Dis- trict are underperforming in mathematics STAAR assess- ments compared to the state of Texas, but ELLs who have met the criteria to exit an ESL program are outperforming All Students. As the North Texas ISD in the study consid- ers the increasing ELL population coupled with the lack of performance on mathematics assessments compared to the state of Texas, new research to improve their mathematics performance was warranted. English Language Learners and Assessments The ELL population is growing in public schools, and many school districts have recognized that this population of students is struggling with state standardized tests (Black, 2006). Students who are classified as ELL speak a language other than English, and they have inadequate language skills to properly participate in a classroom dominated by English speakers (Rojas and Iglesias, 2013). School districts are held accountable for their performance on state assess- ments of math and reading (Sox, 2011), and the increase of ELLs in public schools “raises questions about the extent to which the schools, and more specifically, the teachers, are prepared to meet the needs of their linguistically diverse students” (Sox, 2011, p. 11). State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) With the passing of House Bill 3 in 2009, Texas school dis - tricts were introduced to a new testing program, the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), and accountability system (Texas Education Agency, 2009). The STAAR assesses third through twelfth grade public school students’ academic readiness of reading, writing, mathe - matics, science, and social studies (Texas Education Agency, 2011b).