ELL Reading solution study

Along with bilingual education, English language learners benefit  academically and linguistically from having access to interesting reading materials, and being provided with the time and place to read for pleasure. Well funded and well supplied libraries are needed everywhere, and credentialed teacher librarians must staff those libraries so they can connect readings with books that are right for them. 

Krashen, S. 2018. Do Libraries and Teacher Librarians Have the Solution to the Long-Term English Language Learner Problem? CSLA Journal, 41(2): 16-19.

http://sdkrashen.com/content/articles/2018_krashen_long-term_ells.pdf

Abstract: Six case histories of second language acquirers were examined to attempt to determine what factors play a role in developing a long-term pleasure reading habit in a second language (English). The cases provided support for several hypotheses: Long-term readers are first stimulated to read through a pleasant reading experience, they have access to books and time and a place (or places) to read, they select their own reading material, feel free to stay with certain authors and genres if they want to, and do not profit from tests, workbook exercises and incentives. If these hypotheses are confirmed in future studies, we can conclude that school does not provide the conditions that help develop long-term pleasure reading.

Cho, K.S. and Krashen, S. 2015. What does it take to develop a long-term pleasure reading habit? Turkish Online Journal of English Language Teaching.  1(1): 1-9.http://www.tojelt.com

Graphic Novels and Literacy

This report examines a teenage acquirer of English as a second language living in Arizona, Ramon, whose interest in the Naruto manga series appeared to be the cause of a dramatic improvement in his school performance and English language development.

Henkin, V. and Krashen, S. 2015. The Naruto breakthrough: The home run book experience and English language development. Language Magazine 15(1): 32-25, published as "The Home Run book experience."
 http://www.languagemagazine.com/online/Sept15/

And http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles.php?cat=2

Graduation rate report

U.S. Graduation Rate Reaches 80% for the First Time
According to a recent report, the high school graduation rate for the class of 2011 was 79 percent, while the graduation rate for the class of 2012 was 80 percent. The public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–11 and school year 2011–12. Students with limited English proficiency had a significantly lower average adjusted cohort graduation rate at 59%.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2014). Public high school four-year on-time graduation rates and event dropout rates. Washington, DC: Author.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014391

California ELL report

Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the Unkept Promise of Educational Opportunity for Long Term English Learners
This foundation report examines factors in the increase in long-term English learners in California, student characteristics, and current limitations. Recommendations include specialized courses, clustered placement in grade-level classes, and monitoring and support systems.

Olsen, Laurie (2010). Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the Unkept Promise of Educational Opportunity for Long Term English Learners. Long Beach: California Community Foundation.
http://www.calfund.org/pub_documents/reparable_harm_full_final_lo.pdf

California ELL report

Report criticizes instruction of long-term ELL students in Calif.
Students learning English as a second language in 40 California school districts may not be receiving the instruction they need, according to a report by a coalition of education and civil rights groups. The study concluded that 59% of English-language learners in secondary schools and with more than six years in U.S. schools had not achieved proficiency, and few programs were in place to meet the long-term needs of ELL students. State education leaders disputed the findings, but acknowledged the challenge for students to achieve English fluency in higher grades, where academics become more rigorous.
Californians Together. (2010). Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the Unkept Promise of Educational Opportunity for California’s Long Term English Learners. Long Beach, CA: Author.
http://www.californianstogether.org/

TV and achievement study

Study shows how TV may be good for the brain
A look at standardized test scores from 1965 by two University of Chicago Graduate School of Business economists was able to compare the results of students based on the relative levels of television penetration in their regions. The research suggests that exposure to television in early childhood correlates with higher test scores, especially among children in homes where English was not the first language.
Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse Shapiro. (2008). Preschool Television Viewing and Adolescent Test Scores: Historical Evidence from the Coleman Study. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123(1), 279-323.

ELL achievement study

This study examines the extent to which English language learners (ELL) are concentrated in large, low-achieving public schools, and the degree to which this isolation contributes to the gap in math scores between ELL students and others.
Fry, Richard. (2008). The Role of Schools in the English Language Learner Achievement Gap. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.
http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/89.pdf

ELL study

Research on Educating ELLs Draws Surprising Conclusions

The summer issue of American Educator examined two recent
reviews of research on educating English Language Learners (ELLs).
Currently, one in nine public-school students in K-12 is an ELL, and
demographers estimate that in twenty years that proportion could
swell to one in four. Stanford education professor Claude
Goldenberg says the research suggests that teaching students to
read in their first language promotes higher levels of reading
achievement in English.
Goldenburg, C. (2008, Summer). Teaching English language learners. American Educator, 8-44.
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/summer08/goldenberg.pdf

Reading and ELL study

Research Shows That Books Facilitate Language Learning
The Civil Rights Project at the University of California
studied the impact of newer state policies of structured
English immersion vs. traditional bilingual education.
Researchers found that other factors - such as whether
students have books at home - have greater impact upon
English Language Learners' (ELLs) achievement than state
instructional policies.
Gándara, P., Maxwell-Jolly, J., & Rumberger, R. (2008). Resource Needs for English Learners: Getting Down to Policy Recommendations. Santa Barbara: University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute.
http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/publications/download.php?file=08_gandara-maxwelljolly-rumbergerv2.pdf

School funding report

Many disadvantaged districts receive the least funding
Many states provide the fewest funds to districts with the most poor and minority students, according to a new Education Trust report. On average, U.S. school districts in 2005 spent $938 less per pupil at schools where incomes were low versus more affluent districts, while districts with a large proportion of minority students received $877 less per pupil compared with predominately white districts.
Arroyo, C.(2007). The funding gap. Washington, DC: Education Trust.
http://www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/Press+Room/fundinggap07.htm

Latino ELL study

English fluency rises dramatically in second-generation Hispanics
Although foreign-born Hispanics may struggle to speak English well, 88% of their children are fluent and 94% of subsequent generations speak English fluently while losing most of their Spanish, according to a four-year series of surveys of more than 14,000 adult Hispanics in the U.S.
Pew Hispanic Center. (2007). English Usage Among Hispanics in the United States. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=82

ELL study

Strong English Seen as Key to Immigrants' School Success
English proficiency is the biggest predictor of the academic achievement of immigrant students. The study also found that how well students learn English is also very strongly correlated with the quality of schools they attend. Other predictive factors influencing students’ level of English included:
• School’s percentage of students at (or above) proficiency on the state English/language arts exam
• Parents’ English proficiency
• Parental literacy
• English use in informal settings
• Prior schooling
• School’s average attendance rate
• Time in the United States
Suárez-Orozco, C. & M. (2008). Learning a New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.