Introduction

The statistics for students not reading at grade level are discouraging. If students

experience reading difficulties in first grade, these children will likely have less exposure to

rigorous text and vocabulary (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1997). If students are not proficient

readers by the end of third grade, they are less likely to graduate on time (Hernandez, 2011).

This issue can affect students identified as English Language Learners in a unique way because

they are expected to learn grade level content in all subject areas and acquire the English

language.

School Context

The school, Haddon Avenue STEAM Academy, is located in Pacoima, a neighborhood in

the northeast of the San Fernando Valley. Pacoima is considered a lower socio-economic

community in the city of Los Angeles. The school recently decided to adopt a STEAM focused

curriculum and will be opening a STEAM Magnet center in the Fall for students in grades 1 to 5.

There are currently 836 students enrolled, with 90% of the students identified as coming from

low income households. The school has a predominantly Latino population, 799 students as of

April 2018. Of the total school population, 334 students are identified as English Language

Learners (ELLs).

Table 1. School Populations: Ethnicity and Language Classification

Ethnicity Number of Classification Number of

Students Students
Asian 2 English Only 315
Black 2 Initially Fluent English Proficiency 77
Hispanic/Latino 799 Limited English Proficiency 334
White 19 Reclassified Fluent English Proficiency 98
Filipino 3 Unknown 12
Unknown 11
Classroom Context

In my current teaching assignment, I work with 23 fourth grade Hispanic1 English

Language Learners and one student who is designated as a reclassified student, having met all

the requirements of English language acquisition. Based on the most recent California English

Language Development Test (CELDT), students’ levels of English language acquisition range

from the emerging level to the early bridging level.

Table 2. Current English Language Learner Levels

Number of English Language CELDT Score

Students Level
5 Emerging 1
5 Emerging/Expanding 2
10 Expanding 3
3 Bridging 4

Seven students are receiving support from the Special Education Resource teacher for

specific learning disabilities. One student is awaiting testing and is expected to qualify. Another

student is receiving speech services. Three receive counseling through school support services.

Of these, two are identified as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and are taking

medication.

In terms of their academic standing, based on the recent Smarter Balanced Assessment

Consortium (SBAC) results, 96% of students did not demonstrate grade level achievement in

English Language Arts, while 88% did not meet grade level standards in Mathematics.

1 The term Hispanic is used to identify the students as Spanish speakers.

 Table 3. SBAC Results

English Language Arts Mathematics

Number of Students Performance Level Number of Students Performance Level
1 Met 3 Met
2 Nearly Met 4 Nearly Met
21 Not Met 17 Not Met

On the beginning of the year reading assessment, 21 students are reading well below grade level

expectations, based on fluency (words read per minute) and retell (summary of text read) results,

as measured by a district mandated reading assessment. Our school uses a leveled reading model

for literacy instruction. Students are placed in classes based on these assessment scores.

Needs of the Students

In identifying the problems which affect the students’ learning, their progress in English

Language Development (ELD) emerges as the greatest. It manifests itself across the curriculum,

creating challenges for the students when they need to show in depth understanding of material

presented. Based on my observations, the students demonstrate the basic communication skills to

express their needs. They attempt the use of academic language, but it is often limited as they do

not demonstrate a vast enough vocabulary to express ideas. During discussions or in journal

writing, responses often are minimal. In addition to a lack of vocabulary acquisition, nearly a

third of the students have identified learning disabilities, which affects their ability to access

curriculum that is reliant on reading skills.

When delving into the individual scores on the CELDT, most of the students score level 4

or 5 in the speaking section, showing near native English speaker skills. Listening is around the

same range. But it is the reading score that keeps many of the students in the lower overall ELD

ranges. Many score at level 1 in reading, equivalent to a newcomer, and level 1 or 2 in writing.
The majority of these fourth students have attended district schools since kindergarten. In

reviewing their initial language surveys, conducted in kindergarten, these students often scored

as non-proficient in Spanish. Consequently, many of the students enter school with limited

language upon which to support learning a second language. Even in fourth grade, there are

times when I offer a Spanish translation or cognate, in the hopes that student comprehension will

be enhanced, but they do not know the Spanish word.

The lack of fourth grade level achievement in reading is of great concern, especially for

poor Latino students. If they do not demonstrate grade level reading proficiency by the end of

third grade, Latino students are eight times more likely to drop out of school than grade level

readers (Hernandez, 2011). When considering the graduation prospects of English Language

Learners, there is a 36% difference in graduation rates between students identified as English-

only speakers and those identified as long-term ELLs (Huang, Haas, Zhu, and Tran, 2016).

Needs Assessment

In an effort to determine students’ opinions about their reading abilities, a quantitative

survey was administered, using a 3-point Likert scale. I wanted to know how students perceived

their reading skills.

Table 4. Student Reading Awareness

 25

20

15

10

0
Reading is easy for me. I can get better at I understand what I
reading. read.

agree no opinion disagree

Fortunately, the majority of students believe they can get better at reading. When

considering the reading achievement levels, as evidenced by the scores from the SBAC and

district assessment, some students may have a higher opinion about their abilities than their

achievement indicates.

Looking at the responses to the quantitative survey, I realized that it would be necessary

to delve deeper into students’ perceptions about their reading abilities. I decided to look at five

students with varying levels of reading ability and English acquisition levels.

Table 5. Students Interviewed

Student Description
F1 F1 is a female student who is identified as an RFEP, she reclassified from being
an ELL. She read just below the grade expectation for the beginning of the year,
91/95 words per minute (WPM), but could give a grade level summary of what
she had read. On the SBAC, she scored at Met in Language Arts (ELA).
M1 M1 receives services for Speech and Language. He is identified as a level 3
(Expanding) in English Language Development (ELD). He scored at Not Met
on the ELA SBAC. He read 49/95 WPM at the start of the year.
F2 F2 is a female student who scored at Not Met on the ELA SBAC, is at level 3 in
ELD, but read 135/95 WPM. However, she could not offer a grade level
summary of what she read.
M2 M2 is a male student who scored at Not Met on the ELA SBAC and is at level 4
(Bridging) in ELD. At the start of the year, he read 64/95 WPM.
 F3 F3 is a female student who is a level 4 in ELD but could only read 22/95 WPM
at the start of the year. She scored at Not Met on the ELA SBAC.

Students were asked the following questions:

1. Do you like reading? Please explain.

2. What can make reading difficult, or hard, for you?

3. Do you think it is important to read well? Please explain.

All three female students expressed that they enjoyed reading. F1 stated she “liked imagining

the stories in the book.” F2 and F3 said they liked reading, although F3 said it is hard for her,

“but I want to love reading so I can get good grades.” The male students were not as positive.

M1 said, “I only like reading in class because you (teacher) can help me.” M2 stated, “I think

reading is okay, but I like math more ‘cause I think it’s easy.”

In answering the second question, about what makes reading difficult, a common theme

emerged from all of the students: not understanding some of the words.

Table 6. Question 2 Responses

Student 1. What can make reading difficult, or hard, for you?

F1 “I think I read good. I need to read about 11 more words and I’ll be at the goal.
But sometimes the retell is hard because I don’t get all the words. Like, I read
them but don’t understand what the word means. I try to look it up in the
dictionary or on my mom’s phone, like you said would help me.”
M1 “It’s hard because I don’t know the big words. I don’t know what they mean.”
F2 “Some of the words are hard to understand. I never heard them before. At home I
ask my sister what they mean, but sometimes she’s busy.”
M2 “Some of the words are weird, not weird, but I don’t know them. I try to think
what they mean, but I don’t know. Some of the words are really long or they look
weird.”
F3 “I don’t read good because I don’t know all the words. I try to read a lot but I
don’t know all the words, how to say them. Sometimes I get mixed up too and
can’t remember what I read. I don’t read that good but I promise to practice
because I want to read and know all the words. I want to say them and get them.”
 For the third question, the common theme of doing well was evidenced in everyone’s

responses. All the students agreed that it is important to read well because they want to get good

grades, go to college or to be “on green or blue.” The colors refer to the codes for grade level

(green) or above grade level (blue) proficiency on the district mandated reading assessment.

These reasons are all recognized by the students as positive outcomes of achievement.

“If I can read really good, I’ll get good grades. My sister says you need good grades for

college or they won’t take you. I want to go to UCLA like you. My parents will be so proud of

me,” said F1.

Research Question

In light of the difficulty that many ELLs experience because of their lack of grade level

literacy skills, I would like to attempt to find the best practices to improve the students’ reading

and comprehension. The majority of the students indicate that they do not always understand

what they read. Further clarification was apparent during student interviews, where the common

theme of not understanding some of the words emerged. Therefore, vocabulary development

appears to be key in helping students improve reading comprehension. I propose the following

research and sub questions:

Research Question

What are the best teaching practices to improve the literacy of students, identified as

English Language Learners?

Sub Questions

What are the best strategies to improve students’ reading comprehension?

What are the best strategies to improve student vocabulary acquisition?

 Once practices and strategies are implemented, I will use three forms of assessment to

measure their effectiveness. Besides the district mandated assessments which measure fluency

and comprehension, I will also use vocabulary quizzes and reading comprehension tests from our

reading series. I will continue to meet with and interview the students for qualitative data on the

effectiveness of the new practices. Also, I will also be observing students’ usage of vocabulary

in discussions and in writing. It is my hope that the students will express positive responses to

the new strategies and will experience higher student achievement, reaching their immediate goal

of raising their reading scores.

Works Cited

Cunningham, A.E. and Stanovich, K.E. (1997). Early reading acquisition and its relation to

reading experience and ability 10 years later. Developmental Psychology, Vol. 33, No. 6,

pp. 934-945.

Huang, M., Haas, E., Zhu, N., and Tran, L. (2016). High school graduation rates across english

learner student subgroups in arizona (REL 2017–205). Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education

Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory West. Retrieved

from http://ies. ed.gov/ncee/edlabs

Hernandez, D. (2011). Double jeopardy: How third-grade reading skills and poverty influence

high school graduation. Baltimore, The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Retrieved from

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED518818.pdf.