Literature review
Nesreen Najm
University of Michigan – Dearborn
Dr. Christopher Burke
December 5, 2018
Abstract
This literature review provides an overview of the theory and issues relating to curriculum and practice and English Learners. The purpose of the literature review is to improve the understanding of issues relating to curriculum and practice for English Learners. The paper begins by providing a brief overview of the issue relating to English Learner reading proficiency in the face of the new Michigan Reading Law to be effective in the year 2020. It then addresses the issue of classroom practice and demonstrates the importance of providing best teaching practices in literacy instruction for struggling readers, including English Learners. The objective of the literature review is to gain an understanding of the literacy instructional practices used by teachers and how the instructional practices impact English Learner reading proficiency during literacy instruction. The research questions during my research will aim to address the strategies being implemented to support literacy proficiency development for English Learners and how the literacy instructional practices being provided impact student achievement. The literature review views each category from an English Learner viewpoint, it summarizes the literature of each category, identifies and provides an explanation of the similarities and differences amongst the categories, it analyzes the information, and it evaluates the information in each category. The paper captures major points in the articles and shows the relationships between them to demonstrate knowledge of the topic. Finally, the paper concludes by considering which parts help make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of instructional practices for English Learners.
Keywords: curriculum, practice, English Learners, professional development, assessment, proficiency, instructional strategies, differentiation, student achievement
Overview
"Decision making is a complex process that must consider all dimensions of an issue" (Hughes, Norris, & Ubben, 2016, p. 38). An organization regardless of the setting it is in needs to be ready to make decisions that are best for the common good of the organization in hopes that it will shape the future of the members of an organization positively. This includes all members regardless of whether they are teachers or students, white or black, female or male, rich or poor, English Learners, and/or members with special needs. During prior course readings and in completing annotated bibliographies for this course, my interest in the topic of curriculum and practice began to develop. Then my interest in the issue under consideration began to expand after coming across a radio program featuring an interview with Paula Winke, an applied linguist and Associate Professor who is part of Michigan State University’s Second Language Studies Program, and Suzanne Toohey, a curricula developer and assessor for English language learners in Oakland Schools titled, Michigan's Third-Grade Reading Law Could Hold Back 70% of English Language Learners. Per the program, Michigan’s Third Grade Reading Law plans to retain third grade students who are behind in reading (Stateside Staff, 2017, p. 1). Being the only second grade teacher at my elementary building, this program had me thinking about my role as an educator and future role as a leader in the educational journey of students and how I would like to prepare my staff in the face of the new law set to take place during the 2019-2020 school year.
Statement of the Problem
The Third-Grade Reading Retention Law discussed the creation of stress on teachers and struggling students, including English Learners, to become proficient in reading. Schools across the state have started encouraging teachers to implement professional development learning in reading to improve their literacy instruction and educate parents with read at home plans (Stateside Staff, 2017, p. 2-3). As a current English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsed second grade teacher, this discussion illustrates the need to examine quality teacher professional learning and its effects on student achievement, the need to invest in human capital, as well as the instructional strategies provided to at risk students including English Learners and reading proficiency. This topic addresses the issue of classroom practice and demonstrates the importance of providing best teaching practices in literacy instruction for struggling readers, including English Learners alongside classroom curriculum.
The purpose of this literature is to show that there is a positive correlation between teacher professional development on student achievement, including English Learners. To find a solution to the problem of English Learners not demonstrating proficiency in time for the new Michigan Reading Law that will be effective in 2019-2020, more quality professional development, investment in human capital, and instructional strategies are needed for teachers to avoid holding back large numbers of third grade students.
Research Questions
Question 1: Is there a significant relationship between teacher professional learning, investment in human capital, and student achievement?
Question 2: Is there a significant relationship between instructional strategies and reading proficiency for ELs?
Methodology
To start this literature review, online library databases such as Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), Journal Storage (JSTOR), ProQuest, and Google Scholar were examined. The online library data bases were used to gather information pertaining to the impact of teacher professional development on student achievement in the form of published peer-reviewed academic journals and articles. Key words included “Michigan Reading Law,” “English Learners,” “curriculum and practice,” “professional development,” “investment in human capital,” “literacy proficiency,” NS “instructional strategies.” Dissertations were not included in my research as I found many other resources during my research that seemed to make more sense. This review is limited to studies of students including English Learners and teacher professional development provided in schools across the United States. After obtaining the resources needed for this research, the reference list was reviewed for additional relevant sources that were like the key words that were searched in the databases.
For my research, I plan to conduct a qualitative study where I will collect field notes during classroom observations in one public elementary school in Dearborn, Michigan in two second grade classrooms. One of the two classrooms will be instructed by an English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsed teacher and the other will be instructed by a non-ESL endorsed teacher. Both classrooms will have English Learners. The observations will take place during Daily 5 literacy instruction. The focus of the field experience will be on the literacy instructional practices provided by the teacher during Daily 5 literacy instruction. The goal of the field observation will be to gain insight into how the teacher delivers literacy instruction, what strategies are used, and to gain an understanding of how the instructional practices effect English learner reading proficiency.
For the next data set, I plan to collect information through the form of an interview with the same two second grade teachers from my field observation. The interview data will be collected using an iPhone audiotape application and notes will be recorded. The interview will feature a semi-structured question format. The interview techniques that will be provided include active listening and repetition feedback. At the beginning of the interview, I plan to gather background information about the teachers, their years of experience, education level, their school district’s willingness to invest in human capital. The interview will also be conducted to better understand the literacy instructional practices used by both second-grade teachers and how the instructional practices impact multi-cultural English learner reading proficiency during literacy instruction. The interview will also be conducted to help gain insight into a teacher perspective of the new third grade reading law, to gain an understanding of how literacy instruction is being performed in the second-grade classrooms, and to identify strategies being implemented to ensure language proficiency by third grade. The interview subjects will be classroom teachers in Dearborn Public Schools who are knowledgeable of the circumstances teachers are facing with the new law. The purpose of my research study will be to better understand the literacy instructional practices used by two (one English as a Second Language endorsed and one non-English as a Second Language endorsed teacher) second grade teachers and how the instructional practices learned during teacher professional development impact multi-cultural English learner reading proficiency during literacy instruction.
Effects of Teacher Professional Learning on Student Achievement
An article titled, Effects of Teacher Professional Learning Activities on Student Achievement Growth, by Motoko Akiba and Gooding Liang, discussed the effects of six different types of teacher professional learning activities on student achievement. It discussed the importance of understanding the impacts that professional learning activities have on the teacher’s knowledge and skill set as well as student achievement. Due to limitations, regarding prior studies on how professional learning activities can impact student achievement growth, the article focused on addressing the following three research questions: What are the levels of teacher participation in formal and informal professional learning activities from 2009 to 2011? How are the levels of teacher participation in formal and informal professional learning activities associated with one another? How are school mean levels of teacher participation in formal and informal professional learning activities associated with student achievement growth over four years? (Akiba & Liang, 2016, p. 99)
Per the article, the research conducted a longitudinal survey amongst 467 middle school (grades 6-8) math teachers in Missouri, statewide in 2009, 2010, and 2011. The survey was administered during each year to examine how six types of professional learning activities focused on math teaching and learning. The six types of professional learning activities that were addressed in the research article included professional development programs, teacher collaboration, university/college courses, professional conferences, informational communications, and individual learning activities associated with student achievement growth in the state math assessments (Akiba & Liang, 2016, p. 99). The study used the Teachers’ Opportunity to Learn (TOTL) survey to define and ask middle school math teachers about their participation in six types of professional learning activities. The TOTL survey helped get an understanding of the participation in different professional learning activities and tell about the influences of teachers and their participation in professional learning activities (Akiba & Liang, 2016, p. 101). The survey data was collected from January to May each year. Once the surveys were collected and reviewed, they were then linked to student achievement data in the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP). It was found that over 70% of teachers participated in professional development programs, teacher collaboration, informal communication, and individual learning activities in all three years (Akiba & Liang, 2016, p. 104). The correlations between the different professional learning activities showed that middle school math teachers who actively participated in professional learning activities engaged in both formal and informal activities, and those who spent more time in teacher collaboration tended to also informally communicate with their colleagues about math teaching and learned more frequently than others (Akiba & Liang, 2016, p. 106). It was found that a one hour increase in school average amount of teacher participation in professional conference and informal communication resulted in a .15-point increase and .23-increase in the annual growth rate in student’s math scores (Akiba & Liang, 2016, p. 106).
After the study, “the importance of organizing formal collaborative activities around the problems of practice experienced by teachers” (Akiba & Liang, 2016, p. 106) was suggested. This study helps make sense of how teacher-driven research activities during professional learning can be beneficial towards teacher success and improving student achievement. This study allows for districts and schools to work on improving student achievement by promoting activities that are collaborative, teacher centered, and research-based.
“Teacher collaborations and communications that involve in-depth
teacher discussions of teaching approaches and student understanding
based on actual classroom situations, and learning from practice-based
research findings through conference participation and receiving feedback
on their research-based presentations seem to be beneficial in improving
teacher knowledge and instruction, which in turn leads to improved
student achievement” (Akiba & Liang, 2016, p. 107).
The study stresses the importance of working together and how it can benefit the educational world. By using this collaborative research based professional learning process, it can promote deep discussions and stronger investments in professional learning activities that will improve student learning. This is important for educational leaders and principals to keep in mind when choosing professional development topics and professional learning activities. As a leader of a team and building, everything that is chosen needs to be selected based on what the data and research shows is best for the staff at the building and the students being taught. Being that this study was performed in Missouri, how would the results have differed if it had been performed in a different state, like Michigan? How about cities within a state? Do the results differ between public and private schools?
The next study, Impact of Professional Development on Teacher Practice: Uncovering Connections by Sandy Buczynski and C. Bobbi Hansen, discussed an Inquiry Learning Partnership (ILP) for professional development that was intended to integrate inquiry based professional development training into the classroom. The research focused on the connections between teachers’ experiences and how it translates to the experiences that take place in the classroom for both students and teachers. The goals of the ILP were the following: improve student achievement in math and science, increase teacher content and pedagogical knowledge in math and science, and improve the quality of math and science instruction in targeted schools (Buczynski & Hansen, 2010, p. 599). This qualitative case study was performed “to measure a professional development intervention’s impact on students’ science achievement and teachers’ practices at the end-of-year one of a four-year ongoing professional development intervention” (Buczynski & Hansen, 2010, p. 600). The study sample included 118 fourth to sixth grade teachers and their 3,450 students in two urban school districts. Every teacher in the study sample attended 80 hours of math and science content instruction, but the study targeted science content only. The data collection included interviews with teachers before professional development, pre-post subject matter tests to assess teacher knowledge changes, teacher surveys about professional development sessions, classroom observations, and student achievement test scores to determine the impact of professional development on the California Standards Test (CST) in 2005 and 2006 (Buczynski & Hansen, 2010, p. 601). The purpose of the research was to better understand the professional development experiences of a group of elementary teachers. It focused on answering the two following questions: Are teachers implementing inquiry-based instruction in their classrooms in response to the professional development they are receiving? If not, why not? Are students’ scores improving on science achievement assessments in professional development teachers’ classrooms? (Buczynski & Hansen, 2010, p. 601-602).
“A comparison of District one’s science CST scores from 2005 to 2006 revealed a slight improvement among ILP teachers’ students (9% more students scored proficient/advanced in 2006) compared to a 2-percentage point improvement in student scores from comparison (non-professional development participant) teachers” (Buczynski & Hansen, 2010, p. 603). It was also found that some of the greatest achievement gains happen at buildings where multiple teachers within the same building attended professional development trainings. This is because teachers have gained the additional knowledge and could collaborate about the information presented at the trainings. The overall results of the study “indicate that students made gains from pre- to post-test and that students taught by ILP teachers performed better than students in the classes of non-ILP teachers” (Buczynski & Hansen, 2010, p. 603). Not only did the research show that professional development improves the success of the students, but also the content knowledge and pedagogy of teachers and their confidence when teaching the classroom content. It is important to note that to increase student achievement, teachers need to be actively enriched in their content knowledge and inquiry practices through professional development (Buczynski & Hansen, 2010, p. 604). The article also discussed several barriers to the implementation of professional development based on the classroom observations conducted. These barriers included the following: time allotment, the need to teach mandated curriculum, language learning of English learners, lack of resources, and classroom management issues.
The lessons of this research are very important not only for educators to take from, but also leaders. Effective leaders are those who take their time to get to know their staff, students, building and stakeholders. They need to explain to teachers how the reasons behind professional development opportunities and their importance to their role in the education of students and for themselves. By explaining the importance of professional development to those involved, this will increase focus during professional development and increase teacher buy in when it comes to adopting certain strategies related to the professional development trainings. This article was chosen because it ties in with the impact of professional development of teachers and their ability to be successful in the classroom and increase student achievement. For any school improvement plan to work, buy-in is needed from all stakeholders including the educators, leaders, students, parents, and the community. By building strong relationships and scheduling professional development trainings that are research based and centered around the needs of students and teachers in the building, this can help create a successful process towards the achievement of the goals set in place for the building. Being that this research was conducted in the subjects of science and math professional development, how would the results have differed if it had been performed within different subjects like reading, writing or social studies? How would the results of the effect of professional development been the same or different for our English learners? Does the level of impact of professional development change in high school versus elementary school or middle school?
Another article, Beliefs About Teaching Science: The Relationship Between Elementary Teacher’s Participation in Professional Development and Student Achievement, by Andrew Lumpe, Charlene Czerniak Jody Haney, and Svetlana Beltyukova, discussed the importance of examining teacher professional development programs to determine their impact on the belief systems and practices of teachers and its impact on student learning. The article begins by explaining the reform efforts that have started to take place with an emphasis on improving teacher quality and their professional actions. The goal of the study “was to assess elementary teachers’ science teaching efficacy as they participated in a large-scale professional development program and to determine the relationship of these beliefs with student learning (Lumpe, Czerniak, Haney, & Beltyukova, 2012, p. 153). The article is important because it shows how teacher beliefs and engagement in professional development opportunities can increase teacher self-confidence, teacher knowledge and pedagogy, and ultimately help impact student achievement positively. It was found that “teacher beliefs and the number of hours participating in the research-based professional development program were significantly predictive of students’ science achievement” (Lumpe, Czerniak, Haney, & Beltyukova, 2012, p. 153). Not only does the research show that professional learning helps increase student achievement, but also improves the ability of teachers to be successful in the classroom. This is important to keep in mind because this is often one that tends to be forgotten when we are concerned about student scores and achievement.
The article discusses that professional development needs to focus on content to be learned, active learning must take place, coherence between teacher needs and learning, occurrence over a certain time, and collective participation by educators should take place to make an impact for teachers and students (Lumpe, Czerniak, Haney, & Beltyukova, 2012, p. 155). The goal for professional development opportunities is to increase the knowledge, skills, beliefs, and attitudes of teachers to help increase student learning. The purpose of the research was to assess elementary teachers’ science teaching efficacy during participation in a professional development program. It focused on answering the three following questions: Do teachers’ beliefs about teaching science improve after involvement in intense professional development? What demographic factors predict teachers’ beliefs? Are teachers’ beliefs about teaching science predictive of student achievement? (Lumpe, Czerniak, Haney, & Beltyukova, 2012, p. 157). The target of the study was a teacher professional project between a large urban school district, a smaller school district and two universities in Ohio. The project wanted to achieve a transformation in science education through the implementation of professional development for teachers of students in grades K-6. During the study six, two-week summer programs were conducted during each year of the project. Teachers who participated in the program focused on developing their inquiry based instruction, science content knowledge, and science process determined by the district curriculum (Lumpe, Czerniak, Haney, & Beltyukova, 2012, p. 158). The principals of the schools involved also participated in a one day retreat and follow-up sessions throughout the school year. About 450 elementary teachers who participated in the professional development activities and their corresponding students (580 fourth grade students and 1,369 sixth grade students) survey results and achievement tests (Ohio Proficiency Test) were used in the answering of the research questions asked during the study. The achievement data was then collected at the end of school year for teachers who participated in the professional development program. After participation in the professional development program, the results of the research showed the following: the teachers displayed more positive self-efficacy beliefs, the factors that predict teacher beliefs were the number of times a week science was taught and teacher gender (male=higher efficacy scores), and student achievement scores revealed that self-efficacy and outcome expectancy and the number of professional development hours participated played a significant role in student achievement (Lumpe, Czerniak, Haney, & Beltyukova, 2012, p. 160-161).
As a future, educational leader, this research helped support the importance setting goals with staff, the importance of professional development, and how professional development can positively impact the learning of teaching staff and improve the achievement of students. It is important for leaders who arrange for professional development opportunities to motivate teachers to spend time in quality professional development training. In the study, it showed that by “focusing on standards-based goals, preparing teachers in both content and pedagogy related to these goals, and providing numerous support structures, the trained teachers possessed higher belief systems about teaching science (Lumpe, Czerniak, Haney, & Beltyukova, 2012, p. 163). Research continues to show repeatedly that the students of trained teachers tend to demonstrate higher achievement in schools so why not better ourselves to help better serve our students? Designing a program that helps impact teacher knowledge, skills, beliefs, while also improving student achievement is what each leader should be striving for to be successful in their role as a leader. What are some other factors that contribute to the success of students and teachers in the classroom? How can we address these factors in actual classroom practices? What can leaders do to help address some of these factors to reduce the stress on teachers in the classroom?
Investment in Human Capital
“Human capital is defined as stock of knowledge, competency, motivation and ability that facilitates human productivity. It not only represents the knowledge and ability that is embodied in a person, but at the same time reflects the ‘acquired’ knowledge and skill that contributes to labour productivity” (Sinha, 2014, p. 80). Due to the funding of teacher professional development opportunities and differences in the skill set, knowledge, and experiences of teachers, there will always be differences when it comes to teacher human capital in public schools. This means there will also continue to be differences when it comes to how much investment is put into our public schools and among different districts.
“Developing and supporting teacher human capital is arguably one of the most important functions of a school district, according to both economic and educational rationales” (Myung, Martinez, & Nordstrum, 2013, p.30). The differences in helping to develop and support teacher human capital make it difficult to place teachers and staff in certain buildings and give every student an equal and equitable opportunity for success including English Learners. There are some students who may need more support than others; and therefore, the knowledgeable teachers with the most experience in that area may be paired with these students. There are also the teachers with a large skill set who may or not be good at what they do, even though they have the experience and the background knowledge.
As the world of education keeps changing, the amount of investment in human capital also continues to change. Instead of placing value on people for possessing physical capabilities, society has shifted to placing value on humans who possess multiple capabilities including knowledge, skills, experience, and others. The investment in human capital helps to create a stronger teacher workforce that attends to the needs of all students including English Learners. It should be mandatory that Michigan Public Schools build their essential visionary perspective around putting the needs of all students first. The investment in human capital needs to be viewed as a priority especially if we want to overcome the negative results of the Michigan Reading Law. According to a framework known as the Teacher Human Capital Framework, there are “four interdependent subsystems that represent the four core functions of an effective teacher human capital system” (Myung, Martinez, & Nordstrum, 2013, p. 8). These four subsystems help to ensure that we are placing effective teachers in schools. These subsystems include acquiring the right teachers, developing professional growth, sustaining professional working conditions, and evaluating teaching practice.
Note: Figure from (Myung, Martinez, & Nordstrum, 2013, p. 8).
In a study that investigated the effects of teacher human and social capital on growth in students at an individual level and at a team level, interesting results were shown. “At the individual level, teacher human capital that was specific to setting (years teaching the grade) and task (ability to teach math) had a positive effect on student performance, but teacher educational attainment did not” (Pil & Leana, 2009, p. 1116). It was also found “that higher levels of formal education at the team level were positively associated with student performance gains” (Pil & Leana, 2009, p.1116). The research then went on to say “that deficiencies in teacher ability may be one reason for low student performance. Such deficiencies, however, cannot be corrected simply by requiring higher levels of education or advanced degrees” (Pil & Leana, 2009, p. 1120). In order for Michigan public schools to create effective policies for all students regardless of their disabilities in public schools, investments in the general human capital of teachers and task-specific teacher development opportunities need to be made.
Conclusion
To gain a better understanding of the literacy instructional practices used by an English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsed second grade teacher and how they impact English learner reading proficiency during literacy instruction, I plan to conduct a study that examines the Michigan Reading Law artifact, perform a field observation where notes will be collected, and an interview will be performed in a second-grade classroom. The study will be performed to gain an understanding of how the teacher delivers literacy instruction, what strategies will be used to ensure reading proficiency by third grade, how the instructional practices effect English learner reading proficiency, and to gain an insight into a teacher perspective of the new 3rd grade reading law. During the study, the several research questions will be addressed. As the population of ELs continues to increase in the face of the new Michigan Reading Law, it is important to examine the literacy practices and how to ensure student proficiency for all students.
Conclusion
The study allowed for better understanding of the literacy instructional practices used by an ESL endorsed second grade teacher and how the practices impact multi-cultural English learner reading proficiency during literacy instruction. The study allowed for the gain of understanding in how the teacher delivers literacy instruction, what strategies are used to ensure reading proficiency by third grade, how the instructional practices effect English learner reading proficiency, and to gain an insight into a teacher perspective of the new 3rd grade reading law. Through retrieving the artifact, conducting a field observation, and interviewing an elementary teacher the findings discovered were found to be supportive of English learners and literacy proficiency development in the classroom. The study found that literacy lesson designs and practices that included the implementation of the Daily 5 framework and CAFÉ menu were essential to the literacy instructional practices that create a rich culture for literacy development in the elementary classroom.
The study illustrated the process the school is taking to provide differentiated instruction through implementation of SIOP strategies to align with EL’s language proficiency level. The study illustrated the importance of SIOP strategies to improve classroom organization and inclusive delivery of instruction while attending to the four domains of language including reading, writing, speaking, and listening. SIOP strategies are not only significant to multi-cultural ELs and their academic needs, but benefit all students in the classroom. The study showed how the teacher perspective of differentiated practice during literacy instruction is essential in the support of literacy development for all students including multi-cultural ELs. Differentiation practice is an effective tool that attends to individual needs of students and can help students reach a goal of reading proficiency in time for third grade when the teacher views the support of ELs as their own responsibility.
These findings contribute to the overall positive impact of inclusive teaching instruction, they demonstrate the importance of strategies and their effect on English learner reading proficiency, and the importance of a having supportive teaching perspective in the journey of tackling the new 3rd grade reading law. There are many gaps in the new Michigan reading law when it comes to the literacy levels of ELs in the face of a new reading proficiency law and how it may impact ELs in the future. If this law is being passed to ensure reading proficiency by third grade, then how does keeping back ELs who are not proficient help close the achievement gap? What does this new law mean to students with special needs? Will there be professional development training for teachers in SIOP training who are not ESL endorsed?