Volume 1 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Leadership - Page 67

Journal for K-12 Educational Leadership 65 there was no significant difference between the two groups in reading or math. It should be noted that approximately 1/3 of the non-ELL student group in 2013 were first year monitors from the bilingual program and that generally the non-ELLs achieved at a higher rate than district non-ELLs. This information is reflected in Figure 2. (See Figure 2 on page 68.) Figure 1. Bar graph representing the mean STAAR reading and math scale scores for statistical tests conducted for research question one. Implications The implications of this study and any research that is fo- cused on more effective programs to serve English language learners is valuable. The impetus is on educators and policy makers to find creative and sustainable solutions to meet the needs of this student group. The unique feature of the cur- rent study is the use of data from the new Texas assessment instrument (STAAR). The data reported show that students who have participated in dual language and were in the non-ELL student group by fifth grade are more successful than students across the district who participated in mono - lingual (English only) classrooms. Based on the success of the non-ELL student group in dual language as compared to the other students on the campus and at the district level, the researcher would encourage school leadership to con - sider the expansion of the dual language two-way program to other campuses that have the demographics to support a 50:50 implementation. Upon initial examination of the results from the cur- rent study, one might infer that ELLs participating in dual language are underperforming. Due to the minimal size of the ELL group, caution should be exercised when assigning weight to the mean scores. It should be noted that by the fifth grade most students who have been in bilingual edu - cation from their entry to school, exit the program and are reclassified; therefore, leaving those left in the group rep - resenting a very small demographic who have not demon - strated proficiency in English.