Volume 3 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Research - Page 26

24 • Transitional bilingual education is a model that “emphasizes a transition to monolingual schooling in English as soon as bilingual/ESL teachers deem that each student is ‘ready’” (Thomas & Collier, 2012, p. 15). Transitional models can either be early-exit or late-exit. • Dual language/one-way is a model where one language group receives their instruction through their native language and another language (Thomas & Collier, 2012). • Dual language/two-way is a model where students are a combination of ELLs and native English speakers (Thomas & Collier, 2012). The primary difference between a one-way and a two-way dual language program is the demographic mixture of learners within the classroom. A two-way dual language Spanish program would include a mixture of native Spanish speakers with non-native Spanish speakers. Research Questions The two research questions for the current study focused on answering whether there was a relationship between literacy achievement for ELLs in grades K-3 and the type of bilingual program in which students are participating. Research Question (RQ1) How does literacy achievement compare among ELLs in grades K-2 who were participating in transitional/late-exit, transitional/early-exit, dual language/one-way, or dual language/two-way bilingual program models? Research Question (RQ2) How does literacy achievement compare among ELLs in third grade who were participating in transitional/late-exit, transitional/early-exit, dual language/one-way, or dual language/two-way bilingual program models? Setting and Target Population The study analyzed literacy data for eight public school districts in Texas that are classified as major suburban according to data available from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website. The analysis included data from all students in Kindergarten through third grade identified as limited English proficient (LEP) who participate in a bilingual program in each of the eight school districts. Table 1 describes the overall representation and number of archival student records analyzed in the study according to grade level ( n =135,340). The breakdown of participants by program included in the study consisted of the following: 58% of participants were in a transitional/early-exit program, 27% were in a transitional/late- exit program, 8% were in a dual language/two-way program, and 7% were in a dual language/one-way program. bilingual program i each of th eight school districts. Table 1 describes the overall representation and number of archival student records analyzed in the study according to grade level ( n =135,340). Table 1 Number of Participants Kindergarten First Second Third District 1 2013 2345 2281 2114 2039 2014 2475 2391 2213 1997 2015 2571 2661 2438 2294 2016 2363 2722 2547 2371 District 2 2013 1470 1476 1191 973 2014 1555 1467 1210 1020 2015 1488 1620 1002 989 2016 1290 1469 1082 870 District 3 2013 437 448 457 465 2014 409 491 448 471 2015 426 439 490 453 2016 376 438 447 505 District 4 2013 1353 1239 1240 1129 2014 1337 1355 1242 1318 2015 1087 1260 1352 1285 2016 1102 1169 1299 1369 District 5 2013 469 476 497 513 2014 391 318 289 522 2015 614 625 546 517 Table 1. Number of Participants Lori DeAnn Rapp, Ed.D.