Project Activities
Researchers will use a cohort sequential design to collect and analyze data from students from Spanish-speaking homes to explore the co-development of LC and RC, examine the role of Spanish and English LC in predicting English RC outcomes, and investigate the SPED placement rate based on LC and the consequences of SPED placement on English RC by language status.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The research will take place in elementary schools within a public school district in Tennessee with a large population of students from Spanish-speaking homes. Population/Sample: Approximately 600 students enrolled in kindergarten and grade 1 will participate in the study. Students will be included in the study if Spanish is used in the home, regardless of students' school-designated language status (current EL, former EL, and never EL).
Factors
Key factors to be studied include language comprehension (expressive vocabulary, general oral language, oral narrative ability, phonological awareness, English naming fluency, and phonological memory) in both Spanish and English, English word reading, reading comprehension, EL status, and SPED status.
Research design and methods
This study uses a cohort sequential design spanning grades K–4. Researchers will first recruit two cohorts of students from grades K and 1 and follow them longitudinally across four academic years. Language and reading will be assessed on eight occasions at children's schools by bilingual Spanish-English research assistants in the fall and spring of each year. Data from school records (including EL and SPED status) and parent report of family demographics and language use will be collected annually.
Control condition
Due to the nature of the research design, there is no control condition.
Key measures
: Reading comprehension will be measured with the Stanford Achievement Test-10th Edition, the Gates MacGinite Reading Test-4th Edition and the district administered Measures of Academic Progress and TNReady English Language Arts assessment. English word reading will be measured using the Letter-Word Identification subtest of the WMLS-III and the Test of Word Reading Efficiency-2nd Edition. Various aspects of language comprehension will be assessed with a number of different measures:Expressive vocabulary will be measured by the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey-III (WMLS-III)in Spanish and English and the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-4: Spanish-Bilingual Edition. General oral language will be measured by the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF)-5th Edition and the CELF-4th Edition Spanish. Oral narrative ability will be measured by the Bilingual Spanish/English Narrative Story Retell protocol from the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts. Phonological awareness, phonological memory, and English naming fluency will be measured using the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing-2nd Edition. Data on demographics and language use will be collected using a parent questionnaire. Data on economically disadvantaged status, EL status, SPED status, and EL level of English proficiency will be collected annually from school records.
Data analytic strategy
Individual growth models will be used to address questions regarding LC and RC growth trajectories, the role of LC in RC development, and the role of SPED placement on RC outcomes for students with comparable LC skills. Generalized mixed linear models with repeated measures and binary outcomes will be used to investigate the role of LC and EL status in determining SPED placement.
Products and publications
Products: This project will result in an in-depth understanding of the associations among LC, RC, and SPED placement for students from Spanish-speaking homes, which may be used to inform school-based assessment practices, reading instruction, and SPED placement practices. The project will also result in a final dataset to be shared, as well as additional dissemination products that reach education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigators: Luk, Gigi; Francis, David; Kulesz, Paulina
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.