 |
When Can LEP Students Exit a BE/ESL Program:
Predicting Academic
Growth Using a Test That Measures Cognitive Language Proficiency
Cecilia Oakeley, Theresa Urrabazo, and Hua Yang
Dallas Independent School District
This study looks into predicting the length of time the students in our district will remain in a limited English program. Student growth rates determined from three years of data, were analyzed and compared to expected growth rates identified by the Woodcock-Muņoz Language Survey (WMLS). The WMLS annual expected gains are based on initial W-scores, which have varying growth rates. With this growth pattern in mind the district data were divided into three groups which had different average expected growth rates. The study then compares the language proficiency growth rates of students in BE and ESL programs. Three conclusions were found in light of the standard one-year gains. One, it is necessary for data to be categorized into groups so that gains of the individual categories can be seen and not masked by one total mean. Two, while the low category exceeded expectations and the middle and high categories did not, students in any category will not reach level 4 (English proficient) in three years. This result was not affected by the different programs. And three, the majority of low-scoring first year students will not reach level 4 when projecting an additional five to seven years. However, the majority of middle and high scoring students should at least reach the 3-4 band, if not level 4. Only with additional years of data can these conclusions be validated.
INTRODUCTION
As the accountability movement continues to be a powerful influence on the educational system, serious attention is being paid to the status of LEP students and the length of time required before LEP students become proficient enough in English to be classified as non-LEP. Expected gains in language proficiency are needed to set standards as to the annual progress being made.
This paper is a follow-up study to a paper presented at AERA, 1997, "Notion Into Practice: A Systematic Testing Program for All LEP Students in a Large Urban District." In the previous study, we discussed our experience with new testing programs for LEP students and their results, our concept of inclusion of LEP students in the testing program, and the methods we used to determine the readiness of our LEP students in the District’s regular testing program. We concluded that conditional inclusion is the key to our success with these measures. Conditional inclusion describes our testing approach which first tests all LEP students with the WMLS, then based on the level of proficiency, LEP students are then tested with additional tests. LEP students are tested with the English normed tests only if their English language proficiency level is a 4 or 5. We have validated that the Woodcock-Muņoz Language Survey (WMLS) cognitive level 4 is the level in which LEP students are English proficient and can be reclassified as non-LEP; this was based on the results from ITBS (median of the 40th percentile) and the state criterion test, TAAS (70% passing rate).
With the knowledge of how LEP students are to be included in our testing program and knowing the WMLS level of proficiency, we now can address the current research question. This paper uses the WMLS and new information given by the test developers to answer the question, "How long does it take Dallas Independent School District (DPS) LEP students to exit a BE\ESL program?" The paper first discusses a past approach used to measure DPS student growth. Then new information providing the WMLS expected one-year gains will be introduced along with the relationship between the expected gains and the amount of time it takes to reach a level 4. Once the expected gains are reviewed, then an explanation of the method used to conduct the study will be given and the sample of DPS LEP students will be described. These students’ WMLS scores (W-scores) will be analyzed by grade and by program. A comparison of actual and expected gains will then be detailed using three years of actual data. Following these results, projections will be made using district scores and expected gains to determine when DPS students will reach level 4. Conclusions along with recommendations will follow.
|