Impact of a Large-Scale Science Intervention Focused on English Language Learners

Abstract

The authors evaluated the effects of P-SELL, a science curricular and professional development intervention for fifth-grade students with a focus on English language learners (ELLs). Using a randomized controlled trial design with 33 treatment and 33 control schools across three school districts in one state, we found significant and meaningfully sized intervention effects on a researcher-developed science assessment and the state science assessment. Subgroup analyses revealed that the P-SELL intervention had a positive and significant effect for each language proficiency group (ELLs, recently reclassified ELLs, former ELLs, and non-ELLs) on the researcherdeveloped assessment. The intervention also had a positive effect for former ELLs and non-ELLs on the state science assessment, but for ELLs and recently reclassified ELLs, the effect was not statistically significant.

Improving the preparation of novice secondary science teachers for English learners: A proof of concept study

“…Empirically, large‐scale intervention studies have tested curricular and instructional approaches that draw on sociocultural and sociolinguistic theories to integrate language and literacy development in inquiry‐based science. Results from these studies consistently show that in classrooms where teachers implemented the curriculum and instructional approach, ELs improve in their science learning and literacy development and in some cases outperform ELs in classrooms who did not experience the intervention (Allexsaht‐Snider et al., ; Cervetti, Pearson, Barber, Hiebert, & Bravo, ; Lee, Maerten‐Rivera, Penfield, LeRoy, & Secada, ; Llosa et al., ; Stoddart, )…”

“…Empirically, large-scale intervention studies have tested curricular and instructional approaches that draw on sociocultural and sociolinguistic theories to integrate language and literacy development in inquiry-based science. Results from these studies consistently show that in classrooms where teachers implemented the curriculum and instructional approach, ELs improve in their science learning and literacy development and in some cases outperform ELs in classrooms who did not experience the intervention (Allexsaht-Snider et al, 2017;Cervetti, Pearson, Barber, Hiebert, & Bravo, 2007;Lee, Maerten-Rivera, Penfield, LeRoy, & Secada, 2008;Llosa et al, 2016;Stoddart, 2005) Yet, the field is lacking in multisite research examining teacher education programs' impact on teacher practice, particularly when the focus is on ELs in science. One intervention that has shown promise at the elementary level, Effective Science Teaching for English Learners (or ESTELL), designed and studied an instructional framework consisting of six dimensions: (1) facilitating collaborative inquiry, (2) promoting science talk, (3) literacy in science, (4) scaffolding and development of language in science, (5) contextualizing science activity, and (6) promoting complex thinking (Stoddart, Solís, Tolbert, & Bravo, 2010 Practices aim to support students in leveraging their multiple ways of talking and knowing to make sense of science ideas, specifically by engaging them in the intellectual activities of scientists and engineers (i.e., science and engineering practices) Scientific Discourse • Facilitating productive student talk • Pressing for evidence-based explanations and arguments Practices aim to support students in interacting and communicating in ways that are central to individual and collective reasoning about science ideas.…”

Interaction rituals and inquiry‐based science instruction: Analysis of student participation in small‐group investigations in a multilingual classroom

“…Student‐driven science instructional approaches, such as inquiry‐oriented science (NRC, , ), can be particularly beneficial for plurilingual students who may not be proficient in the language of instruction, as they support dialogic engagement around science which can also serve to mediate their language proficiencies. While there has been an increasing trend in the research literature that considers students’ language competencies in relation to their science experiences (e.g., Cuevas, Lee, Hart, & Deaktor, ; Llosa et al., ), there is a dearth of research that explores how language learners participate within the socially embedded structures of inquiry‐oriented activities. More specifically, there is a need to understand how language learners employ communicative resources while engaging in the social structures of inquiry‐based science instruction.…”

Assessing Conceptual Understanding via Literacy-Infused, Inquiry-Based Science among Middle School English Learners and Economically-Challenged Students

“…In addition to language, science involves a certain set of practices referred to as science and engineering practices [9] and new ways of thinking about the natural world [7]. Therefore, to facilitate students' learning, researchers have advocated the integration of literacy and science and determined that this integration can promote improved English literacy skills and scientific thinking for EL and EC students (e.g., [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]). Engaging in inquiry-based instruction has resulted in or promoted improved student learning for the general student population and has been noted by several researchers and scholars for over 50 years (e.g., [20][21][22][23][24][25]).…”