Volume 3 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Research - Page 32

30 THE EFFECT OF AN INTENSIVE SUMMER READING INTERVENTION PROGRAM ON ENGLISH LEARNER STATE ASSESSMENT SCORES Tim E. Baxter, Ed.D. Introduction The number of English Learners in Texas public schools has increased in recent years. In 2014, for the first time in history, the number of African-American, Asian, and Latino students in U.S. schools exceeded the number of non-Hispanic white students (Maxwell, 2014). This new majority of previously minority school children now represents approximately 50.3% of students in U.S. schools (Maxwell, 2014). From 2005 to 2020, the number of immigrant school children in the nation is expected to rise from 12.3 million to 17.9 million (Fry & Gonzales, 2008). As a result of these population trends, number of students who do not speak English as their native language is increasing. Goldenberg (2008) found that in 1990, only one out of twenty students in schools were English Learners, whereas today that ratio has decreased to one out of every nine students. English Learners attending American schools come with over 400 different language backgrounds (Goldenberg, 2008). The largest group of English Learners are Spanish speakers, making up 80% of current English Learners (Goldenberg, 2008). The next largest group consists of students with Asian language backgrounds, examples being Vietnamese, Chinese, Hmong, Korean, Khmer, Laotian, and Hindi (Goldenberg, 2008). With the large increase in the English Learner population, many of these students struggle to learn English and have difficulty succeeding in school. Currently, English Learners score lower on standardized testing than those students who are not language learners (Fry & Gonzales, 2008). As the population trends change, and as many English Learners enroll in public schools, educators must provide services necessary to improve the reading skills of these non-native speakers. Pullout programs are currently the main service option for English Learners, but Thomas and Collier (1999) found increasing numbers of schools provide developmental bilingual education (DBE) in which students are educated in two languages, their native language and English, at the same time. Additionally, one option of service to English Learners involves accelerated programs offered outside of the normal school day and in the summer. The current study focused on a summer accelerated program. The study examined reading scores for English Learners in a large, suburban school district, from here on referred to as the District. A comparison of English Learner performance State Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) and Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) testing was conducted between English Learners receiving an accelerated instruction program compared with English Learners who did not receive accelerated instruction. Implications for practice were examined after comparing data between the two groups of students. Purpose The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of a summer accelerated program on the reading scores of English Learners on TELPAS Reading and STAAR English EOC testing. The first area of analysis involved TELPAS reading score comparisons from Grade 8 to Grade 9 for students who participated in the summer program. For this analysis, students took TELPAS testing in Grade 8 and then participated in the intensive summer program prior to Grade 9. After participation Journal of K-12 Educational Research 2019, VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 www.dbu.edu/doctoral/edd