Year

2005

Paper Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

College of Education and Human Services

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Dr. G. Pritchy Smith

Second Advisor

Dr. Edwidge C. Bryant

Third Advisor

Dr. Larry G. Daniel

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how school reform design, English speakers of other languages (ESOL) instruction, and socioeconomic status (SES) impact the academic achievement of ESOL students in Grade 2. Gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory were used to measure one aspect of academic achievement, namely, general reading ability.

The primary research question was: To what extent can gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory be explained by the independent variable set of school reform design (America's Choice/Direct Instruction), ESOL instruction (ESOL instruction/no ESOL instruction), and SES (free and reduced lunch/no free lunch). Participants were 204 ESOL students enrolled in Grade 2 in Duval County Public Schools during the 2003-2004 academic year, including 53 in Direct Instruction and 151 in America's Choice school reform designs; 151 receiving free and reduced lunch and 53 paying full fee for lunch; 139 receiving ESOL instruction and 65 receiving no ESOL instruction.

Findings indicated that students in the Direct Instruction school reform design had greater gains in lexile scores on the SRI than students in the America's Choice design. SES and ESOL instruction were not statistically significant predictors of academic achievement. Further, there were no statistically significant interactions among any of the predictor variables (between school reform design and ESOL instruction; between school reform design and SES; between SES and ESOL instruction; or among school reform design, SES, and ESOL instruction).

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Education Commons

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