Study: 90355

Single Study Review

Review Details

Reviewed: April 2022

No statistically significant positive
findings

Meets WWC standards with reservations

For:

Single Study Review (findings for Extended Foreign Language program with Spanish language instruction and Spanish-language content area instruction)

Using:

Rating:

Meets WWC standards with reservations because it uses a cluster quasi-experimental design that provides evidence of effects on individuals by satisfying the baseline equivalence requirement for the individuals in the analytic intervention and comparison groups.

This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Findings

General Literacy Achievement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) - Reading	Extended Foreign Language program with Spanish language instruction and Spanish-language content area instruction vs. Business as usual	0 Years	Grade 5; 284 students	690.70	685.70	No	--
Show Supplemental Findings
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) - Reading	Extended Foreign Language program with Spanish language instruction and Spanish-language content area instruction vs. Business as usual	-2 Years	Grade 3; 284 students	640.30	638.10	No	--

General Mathematics Achievement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT): Mathematics	Extended Foreign Language program with Spanish language instruction and Spanish-language content area instruction vs. Business as usual	0 Years	Grade 5; 284 students	680.80	673.90	No	--
Show Supplemental Findings
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT): Mathematics	Extended Foreign Language program with Spanish language instruction and Spanish-language content area instruction vs. Business as usual	-2 Years	Grade 3; 284 students	645.40	641.40	No	--

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Sample Characteristics

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.

1% English language learners
Female: 62%
Male: 38%
Urban
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Florida

Race
Other or unknown		100%

Ethnicity
Hispanic		93%
Not Hispanic or Latino		7%

Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch
Free or reduced price lunch (FRPL)		64%
No FRPL		36%

Study Details

Setting

The study was conducted in an urban school district in Florida. Twenty schools participated in the study, of which 10 offered bilingual instruction through a program called Extended Foreign Language (EFL) with Spanish language instruction and Spanish content instruction. The other 10 schools did not offer bilingual instruction.

Study sample

A total of 284 students in grade 5 were included in the study. The 284 students attended 20 elementary schools. Approximately 62 percent were female, 64 percent were eligible for free or reduced price lunch, and 1 percent were English language learners. Ninety-three percent were Hispanic or Latino and 7 percent were non-Hispanic or Latino.

Intervention Group

The Extended Foreign Language program (EFL) with Spanish instruction and content Spanish instruction is a bilingual program implemented at the school level in which all students in the school receive 1 hour of daily Language Arts instruction in Spanish, the target language of the schools in this study, and an average of 30 minutes of daily science or social students content instruction in Spanish. On average, students receive about 20 percent of their daily instruction in Spanish and all other instruction in English. Students in the intervention group received the EFL program starting in Kindergarten through grade 5.

Comparison Group

Students in the comparison group received business-as-usual instruction in all content areas for all grades in elementary school. These students attended schools with regular instruction and without bilingual programs.

The Effects of the Extended Foreign Language Programs on Spanish-Language Proficiency and Academic Achievement in English [Findings for Model B: Extended Foreign Language with Spanish language and Spanish content area instruction]