ESL STUDENTS IN A MIDDLE SCHOOL

ESL Students in A Middle School



ESL Students in a Middle School

Purpose of the Study:

The purpose of the study is to determine the effects that ESL students occur in a middle school Math classroom. This study will investigate the motivation and achievement scores of ESL students compared to American students in the same class. The American student is fluent in the English language. There are many different issues that could cause an ESL student to become a low achiever in any class. The data used to group the students will be the grades from previous classes. The present study, within the context of the classroom, will be concerned with the following research questions:

1. Is there a difference in the achievement scores of two different groups in a math class? The two different groups are ESL students and fluent English students. The test scores from previous grades and state test will determine the groups.

2. Is there a difference in the final outcome of social projects with the two different groups in an accelerated math classroom? The teacher could document data as the students are working in class. The teacher could also collect data on homework for a project.

Non experimental research designs describe things that have occurred and examine relationships between things with any direct manipulation of conditions that are experienced. One of the six types of non-experimental designs is Ex Post Facto which can be used to explore possible causal relationships among variables that cannot be manipulated by the researcher. Secondary Data analysis is another type of non-experimental design that can be used in this study. There are many studies with state and federal test scores to compare the students' state test in general. There is also data collected relevant to accelerated math classes.

Theoretical Framework

Three bodies of literature inform the ideas presented in this study. One body involves Cummins' (2001) intervention framework on empowering minority students. This framework was chosen because it includes issues of power that exist between dominant and dominated groups in society which also reflect similar concerns in schooling contexts. The second body involves assessing and placing ESLs, including implications of Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) (Cummins, 1986, 1992) for testing issues. The third body are position statements from the NCTM (1998) on the mathematics education of minority students and ESLs.

Empowering Minority Students

At the center of Cummins' (2001) intervention framework for empowering minority students "...is that students from 'dominated' societal groups are 'empowered' or 'disabled' as a direct result of their interactions with educators in the schools" (p. 659). According to Cummins (2001), educators assume roles that benefit or hinder minority students. These roles are considered in relation to four characteristics of schools that affect minority student school success: cultural/linguistic incorporation, community participation, pedagogy, and assessment. Celedón-Pattichis (2002) addressed cultural/linguistic incorporation and pedagogy in a study that documented the role of an algebra teacher in helping two Greek Cypriot students in her course as ...