Volume 1 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Leadership - Page 37

Journal for K-12 Educational Leadership 35 Alt, Arizmendi, and Beal (2014) “examined the rela- tionship between mathematics and language to better un - derstand the nature of the deficit and the academic impli - cations associated with specific language impairment (SLI) and academic implications for English Language Learners (ELLs)” (p. 220). The results of the study showed that the relationship between language proficiencies and mathemat - ics performance was positive since the performance of En - glish Language Learners “was less accurate than for those in the NE group for language-heavy, symbol-heavy tasks” (Alt et al., 2014, p. 230). The results of the study by Alt et al. (2014) supported the findings in the study by Abedi and Lord (2001) that language modifications to a mathematics assessment increased the performance of ELL students. Purpose and Rationale Abrahamson (2007) called for further research that seeks to identify a connection between different content area instruc - tional programs and student achievement in mathematics; hence, the first purpose of the present study was to deter - mine if there is a relationship between the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) assess - ment and the mathematics STAAR assessment among six, seventh, and eighth grade ELLs during the year they met the criteria to exit an ESL program. A relationship found be- tween the TELPAS assessment and the mathematics STAAR assessment would provide teachers an instructional focus to use TELPAS assessment results for mathematics interven- tions. Allen (2012) called for further research that provides “educators with a significant predictive tool for identifying those students who are at-risk of not meeting the passing standards on the STAAR Math assessments” (p. 86); there- fore, the second purpose of the current study was to answer whether the TELPAS assessment predicts the mathematics STAAR assessment among six, seventh, and eighth grade ELLs during the year they met the criteria to exit an ESL program. If the TELPAS assessment predicts the mathemat- ics STAAR assessment, teachers will be able to target their instruction to ELLs who need intervention (Allen, 2012). There has been an increase of English Language Learn- ers (ELLs) enrolled in public schools in the United States (ELL Students Increase, 2012), and ELLs are the most un- derperforming academic group in the United States (Ki- huen, 2009). In the North Texas ISD which was the focus of this study, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade ELLs who have not met the criteria to exit an ESL program were underper - forming all sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students on the mathematics STAAR assessment. All Students in the Dis- trict were outperforming them from 13 percentage points to 20 percentage points, but sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who have met the criteria to exit an ESL program are outperforming All Students on the STAAR mathematics assessment. The current study asked and investigated the following research questions. Research Question 1: (RQ1) Is there a relationship be- tween the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) assessment and the mathematics State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) assess- ment among sixth, seventh, and eighth grade English Lan- guage Learners (ELLs) during the year they met the criteria to exit an English as a Second Language program? Research Question 2: (RQ2) Does the TELPAS assess- ment score predict the mathematics STAAR assessment score among sixth, seventh, and eighth grade English Lan- guage Learners during the year they met the criteria to exit an English as a Second Language program? Summary of Findings The study revealed a significant positive relationship be - tween the 2012-2013 TELPAS raw score and the 2012-2013 mathematics STAAR raw score as well as the 2012-2013 TELPAS scale score and the 2012-2013 mathematics STAAR scale score among limited English proficient sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who exited in the 2012-2013 aca - demic school year. These findings were consistent with the findings of Badgett et al. (2012), and there was a significant relationship between the TELPAS assessment and a state standardized test. In addition, the data revealed a signif- icant positive relationship between the 2013-2014 TELPAS raw score and the 2013-2014 mathematics STAAR raw score as well as the 2013-2014 TELPAS scale score and the 2013- 2014 mathematics STAAR scale score among limited English proficient sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who ex -