Research Proposal M10U1A3 Ramona Yuva

1. Rationale Statement for the Importance of my Proposal

1.1. I believe if 7-12th grade teachers were made aware that they could increase the literacy and thereby overall academic success of their ELLs through the implementation of basic ESL best teaching practices, they would do so. This would in turn result in a substantial increase in the percentage of ELLs who go on to graduate.

1.2. Teachers who are not trained to teach ELLs are not able to achieve the teaching objectives they have for their students. This leads to frustration and ineffective teaching.

1.3. Although ELLs reach conversational fluency within three years, it can take from 5-10 years to reach the academic fluency needed for higher level texts and writing. Because of this, mainstream high school teachers often overlook the necessity of giving upper grade students special support.

2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

2.1. The majority of middle and high-school content-area teachers (grades 7-12) are unprepared to teach the English Language Learners (ELLs) in their classrooms.

2.2. Due to this, ELLs are not receiving the quality of education they need which is causing a high percentage of them to drop out instead of graduate.

3. RESEARCH QUESTION

3.1. How does lack of ESL instruction practices impact mainstreamed high school ELLs in their content courses?

3.2. What effective ESL strategies can content teachers incorporate into their curriculum to support their English language learners?

4. Theoretical Foundation for my Proposal

4.1. 10% of US schools consists of ELLs

4.2. It is anticipated that close to 40% of our nation's students will be comprised of ELLs by 2030.

4.3. The percentage of English Language Learners graduating from US public high schools is about 20% less than the when compared with their English-speaking classmates.

4.4. As of 2012, only five states made it mandatory for mainstream teachers to take coursework preparing them for work with ELLs as a requirement for obtaining teacher certification.

4.5. Over 30 states do not require any ESOL training for mainstream subject teachers.

4.6. 77% of content-area teachers have no training at all in teaching ELLs

5. My Proposal

5.1. Identify: Which ESL teaching techniques have been proven effective for use by mainstream English Language Arts, Math and Science teachers in increasing the academic performance of their 7-12th grade ESL students.