Study Group 2 EDTP 645 Section 9040

15 March 2014

Group Data Analysis: Panama High School

School Overview Panama High School is located in the town of Panama, Maryland and operates within the Panama-Golden Creek section of the Blair County Public School District. In addition to the regular high school curriculum, Panama High currently hosts two magnet programs; biomedical and engineering. The high school was established in 1954 as a response to the continuing influx of federal government workers and to the demographic expansion of the time, would be come to be known as the baby boom. Panama, Maryland has a population of 57,694 and is a culturally mixed community with a rapidly changing demographic balance. The town of Panama has been, for most of its history, a white working class neighborhood. However, the character of Panama, MD has been dramatically altered by a demographic sea change. There has been a rapid and constantly expanding influx of mostly Hispanic immigrants, which began in the 1970s and continues today (see Appendix A, Demographics of Panama, MD). This dramatic demographic change continued through the recent economic downturn. Unemployment in Panama from April 2007 to January 2010 grew from 2.3 % to 6.3%. Fortunately, by December 2012, that rate had fallen to 4.9 %. These two stressors on the town, demographic change and economic contraction, have also impacted Panama High School.

Faculty, Staff, and Student Population There are a total of 164 adults employed by the school in professional and nonprofessional capacities (see Appendix A, Student-Adult Ratio), of which 86 are certified teaching professionals (See Appendix A, Staff Allocations). The current population of students at this high school includes 1,217 individuals who are divided relatively evenly between the four grade levels (see Appendix A, Enrollment Numbers by Grade). The student to teacher ratio is a favorable 14 to 1. Panama High School students boast cultural backgrounds that represent 43 different countries, but a majority of the student population is Hispanic. There are as many African-Americans as there are white and Asian students combined; the latter two groups are almost precisely equal in number, and combine to equal only about 20 % of total students (see Appendix A, Student Race). 89% of the students attending Panama come from a minority background (see Appendix A, Student Race). Academic Data Data that shows the English HSA performance of Panama High Schools 11th grade students in the context of racial/cultural background was central to the deliberations of the Panama High School data team. It indicates that, by the time students reach the eleventh grade, Hispanic students, who are in the schools majority, perform more poorly than any of the other racial/cultural categories (see Appendix A, % of 11th grade Students Who Passed . . .). This particular data is, perhaps, the most powerful suggestion of a correlation between the unfavorable performance of 11th graders on the English HSAs and the prevalence of culturally Hispanic students in the school population. It suggests that improving Panama Highs over-all performance in the HSA could be most readily affected with targeted initiatives aimed at Hispanic students. Data that shows Panama Highs Hispanic student population, which is greater

than that of any other Blair County high school, perform worse in the English HSAs than any of those schools is another strong indicator of the dire need to design interventions for Hispanic students in the English content area (See Appendix A, English Score Comparison). Data Team The data reflecting an achievement gap in English is disappointing. In 2011-2012, the school set a goal to improve over-all HSA scores by 50 percent over a 6 year period. With an Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) increase of 3% per year in English HSA scores over the next five years, Panama High Schools English department will meet the basic objective. Last year the school met the English AMO by increasing the proficient scores of all students from a baseline of 77.4 percent to 79.3 in the English HSA. On the 2012 English HSA, Hispanic students had a passing percentage of 70.5 percent (55 of 78 students). (Maryland School Performance, 2012; Maryland Report Card, 2013). In order to continue this trend and to reach the schools AMO goal for 2017, Panama High Schools principal Dr. A formed a data team consisting of one vice principal, two English teachers, one Social studies teacher, two English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers, and one reading specialist. The members of the data team include: 1). Mr. B is the vice principal for the 11th grade. With a BA in English and an MA in Teaching, he taught high school English for 14 years in California. Mr. B has experience in developing programs for ESOL students. His track record shows an ability to help students with language difficulties, and he is personally familiar with the students whose work will be analyzed by the data team. Mr. B will report monthly to Dr. A regarding the data teams findings.

2). Dr. C is a 12th grade English teacher and chairperson of the English Department. Dr. C has 15 years of experience as a high school English teacher. She has been chairperson of Panamas English department for 5 years. Dr. C teaches 12th grade Honors English, as well as AP English courses. 3). Mr. D is a 9th grade English teacher who has been teaching at Panama H.S. for 3 years. In that short time he has already received recognition for his innovative teaching techniques. Mr. Ds popularity among the students at Panama High School is well known. 4). Ms. E is an 11th grade Social studies teacher. She has been teaching at Panama for 10 years and was chosen by Dr. A to participate on the data team because of her students high proficiency rate and because of her success in implementing some independent classroom initiatives, including using journals as part of the classroom assessments. 5). Mrs. F is an ESOL teacher at Panama H.S. She has been teaching at Panama for 5 years and was chosen by Dr. A to be a member of the data team because of her experience working with Hispanic students in her ESOL classes. 6). Mr. G is also an ESOL teacher at Panama H.S. He has been teaching at Panama for 2 years. He was chosen by Dr. A for the data team because of his 16 years of experience working as an ESOL teacher in California. 7). Ms. H is a reading specialist whose role on the data team will be to provide additional resources and suggestions on best practices for incorporating reading skills particularly helpful to LEP students.

Before beginning its research, the data team distributed a survey to all teachers at Panama High School in order to obtain a consensus of current teachers perceptions about English proficiency in the classroom and compare it to the teams findings from the English HSA (See Appendix B). Members were also asked by Dr. A to take the state assessments themselves to help them identify where current student aptitude is especially taxed, and the extent to which current classroom curriculum aligns with the HSA objectives (Mints, Fiarman, & Buffett, 2005, p. 93). After reviewing the results of the teacher surveys (see Appendix C) and examining the HSA testing protocol, the team identified a clear need for instructional initiatives in vocabulary, reading fluency, grammar, and reading comprehension. After identifying these areas for needed improvement, the data team participated in an online conference that offered training on strategies to help English language learners, such as: creating effective small groups; effective whole class instruction strategies (such as using noun, verb, and object sentences and scaffolding activities); vocabulary instruction; and the effective use graphic organizers. During their initial meeting, the data team met to discuss the HSA reading results for the 11th grade and to review the pre-initiative surveys completed by the teaching staff. Members informally assessed the English curriculum implementations begun last year for the 10th grade and discussed implementing the next set of interventions at an earlier grade level. It was decided that the data team would meet on the 1st and 3rd week of each month to discuss the progress of current and new implementations. These semi-monthly meeting will allow the data team an opportunity to confront any difficulties that arise and, if necessary, to refocus on the goals set by the team. After careful analyses, the data team decided to focus on 9th grade English classes. They believe by beginning with 9th grade, the students will have sufficient time to develop the reading

proficiency of 11th graders. Not only do 11th grade Hispanic students perform at lower levels on the HSAs than any other cultural category of students, as indicated above, but additional data shows a disturbingly steady decline in English HSA performance from the 9th to the 11th grade (See Appendix A, Hispanic Student HSA Performance by Grade Level). The data team established the following broad instructional goals based on their data analysis. The new curricular interventions for 2012-13 are designed to respond to these goals: 1) The 9th grade English department will implement department-wide instructional strategies and procedures aimed at helping students markedly improve writing skills (fluency, grammar, vocabulary, spelling) ; 2) 9th grade English classrooms will feature metacognitive instruction that helps students become more efficient learners by improving their reading comprehension and study skills; 3) The English department will develop instruction and resources to increase opportunities for students to make affective connections between the English curriculum and their lives and cultures outside of school; 4) The English department will conduct a review of the current pedagogical literature and work to identify and implement new and effective group learning activities and procedures for the 9th grade. Ongoing Initiatives In 2010-2011 year the English faculty implemented a set of new 10th grade curriculum initiatives in response to the previous years disappointing HSA results in English for 11th graders (see Appendix A, % of 11th Grade . . .) Principal A mandated that the English resource teachers (department leaders) for all four grades would plan several meetings to develop an action plan to respond to the goals outlined by the data team. A number of tentative proposals for instructional improvements germinated in those meetings. After each of the first two brainstorming sessions, each resource teacher in turn conducted a meeting of their grade level teachers

to get feedback and take suggestions. At the suggestion of the principal, an invitation to participate in these grade-level English department meetings was extended to other content area teachers who might like to share observations and concerns about the impact on their instruction of reading comprehension and writing skills. With the support of this input, a final set of proposed implementations was formalized in another meeting of the four grade-level resource teachers. Thus informed by input from the entire English teaching staff and other interested parties, a final set of proposed implementations for 2011-2012 emerged from the third meeting of the department heads. The implementations that have been in place since last school year target current 10th grade students. This special focus was the facultys response to the new policy that makes passing the HSAs a requirement for graduation. Most of these 10th grade implementations, described below, have been carried over into the current year. The first ongoing 10th grade initiative is a telephone outreach to the homes of underperforming Hispanic 10th graders, conducted to gain insight into the level of academic support these students are receiving from their home environments. Another goal of this initiative is to gather information about the extent to which speaking and reading English are encouraged in the homes of these students. Teachers make two attempts, if necessary, to contact the head of household of every home of 9th grade students who self-identify as Hispanic and who failed the English HSA. During this telephone contact, teachers ask several sensitively composed questions about the English language proficiency, language preference, and reading habits of household members. The head of household, parents, or guardians of these students are invited to schedule a meeting with the teacher to discuss how the students home support system could help him/her improve performance in English class and on the HSAs.

A second ongoing initiative for 10th graders was inaugurated last year, and continues to date, in which 10th grade teachers meet monthly to identify reading materialnovels, plays, poetry, newspapers, and magazines that are culturally relevant and engaging for Hispanic students. Once identified, these materials are incorporated into lesson plans and independent reading assignments as either replacements for or alternatives to Anglo-centric textual material. 10th grade English teachers oversee a lunchtime intervention in which struggling students are invited to spend one lunch period per week in the English Departments computer lab, participating in a Word Tourney where English department staff, on a rotating basis, guides them in competitive vocabulary games from the ESOL HELP Web site and other free education resources. Students compete both individually and in teams for prizes, such as coupons donated by local businesses. In order to improve the reading comprehension and test-taking skills of 10th graders, teachers devote class time and computer lab resources to metacognitive instruction on learning and study strategies. This initiative includes the engagement of students in mini-assessment exercises from the HSA public release documents issued by the Maryland Department of Education. Teachers also design their own reading comprehension assessments for these simulated testing sessions. Finally, 10th grade English teachers began a continuing commitment to offering small group assistance to students featuring oral reading proceduresreading aloud, being read to, vocalizing hard vocabulary, etc. using specially selected Hispano-centric material. New Initiatives for 2012-2013

This year the English department developed new initiatives in response to the data teams recommendations to continue the current focusing mainly on underperforming ESOL and Hispanic students and to direct new initiatives to the 9th grade. The 94% overlap of the Hispanic and ESOL classifications of students at Panama High School is nearly, but not quite, total (See Appendix A, School-wide Population v. ESOL) . Efforts have been made to design the new initiatives so that, while featuring a Hispanic flavor, the programs will be useful and engaging to all categories of learners. The following initiatives are intended to augment rather than to replace those discussed above, which are still in place. The first initiative calls for the establishment of literary circles (with substantial online components) in all three 9th grade sections. The planning teams decision to mandate literary circles was based on the evidence that the current practice of them in one of ninth grade sections is producing considerable engagement in reading and writing among its Hispanic students. It was also observed that the small group feature of literary circles that allows multiple texts to be utilized in one classroom at the same time is especially suited to the object of introducing culturally engaging texts to a culturally diverse classroom. Teachers will consult with students to choose writings that meet or just exceed student reading levels. The English department has mandated that group discussions will be conducted exclusively in English, and teachers are expected to strictly enforce this requirement. There is also a requirement that the production of an individual journal will be a mandatory feature of the activity, and that one student in each circle will be charged with the role of producing a literary circle journal, a group journal that will include summaries of discussions and notes on new vocabulary words. This group journal, in addition to providing an assessment tool for the teacher, will be made available to the data team to help them evaluate the initiative.

The circles will utilize three different discussion arrangements: pairs, small groups and the whole class. A paired arrangement would have students mindfully grouped for peer-support. Li and Nes (2001) found that paired reading helps English language learners read more accurately and fluently. Students get a chance to discuss themes, vocabulary, and privately investigate challenging text in conference with one another. They will also periodically convene as a whole class to discuss the literature. Small groups are to be arranged heterogeneously allowing, i.e., native speakers to be grouped with ESOL students, outgoing students to engage reserved ones, etc. This again offers a comfortable atmosphere for discussion with more support and prospects for interesting discourse. Novels, poetry and dramas of moderate length, all of which stimulate higher order thought and feature reasonably challenging vocabulary will be featured using a selection process that will include student input and the consultation of online forums, such as AR Bookfinder, Shelfari, and Booklist.com. To support students and their willingness to have a voice, teachers will require and facilitate online discussion using the Edmodo online community. Students will post comments about their reading, sometimes aided by prompts from the teacher. This will allow each student to have a voice and use the familiar format of an online discussion board to post their comments. The second initiative is composed of two mandated 9th grade unit lessons on 1) learning and study strategies; and 2) Test-taking strategies. The instruction on learning and study strategies will provide students with formal metacognitive instruction in an effort to directly address difficulties in reading comprehension and vocabulary building. It will include (but not be limited to) Self Questioning, Visual Imaging, Inference, Paraphrasing, Word Mapping, and LINCS Vocabulary strategies. The unit on test-taking will develop what Amer (2007) calls

Test-wiseness [:] a skill that permits a test-taker to utilize the characteristics and forms of test and/or test-taking situation to receive a high score (Amer, 2007). Such an intervention is backed up by research that suggests that performance on language tests is not only a matter of language knowledge, but depends also upon an independent skill at test-taking (Amer, 2007). The third initiative is the mandatory implementation of a journaling activity in every 9th grade English class. The students in every 9th grade English class will each keep an English class dialog journal in which the student will be required to record thoughts about instruction, make connections between instruction and issues outside the classroom, and ask questions and comments relevant to instruction. The journals will be graded weekly for process; they will also be graded on the technical precision of only a 300 word segment of their weekly journal entry. There was some controversy in planning discussions over whether or not student journals should be graded for content on a technical basis, i.e., for grammatical usage, spelling, syntax, etc. In Teaching Tolerance, Kristan Taylor explains that journals are most helpful to students who struggle with language skills when they are reminded that [the journals] are personal, thus they can put grammar and spelling aside and simply let their thoughts and ideas flow. Taylor suggests that such struggling students are hindered by the idea that their paper will come back riddled with red ink (Taylor, n.d.). However, some data team members and department staff were adamant in discussions to point out that the goal of improving the writing proficiency, as opposed to the mere writing fluency, of students will require a measure of academic rigor. A compromise was reached that led to the formal guideline requiring that no more, nor less, than a 300 word separated sample from each students dialog journal will be submitted to the teacher each week for technical evaluation and mark up with green (not red!) ink. Teachers need to be

reminded that, to allay privacy issues, the physical format of the journals must accommodate the tearing out of this public section of the journals.

The journaling initiative calls for the process to be modeled for the students until they are at ease with it. In order to promote the success of the initiative, key procedures such as writing on the front side of the paper only ( leaving the back for instructor comments), and carefully noting the daily or weekly journaling topic must be clearly communicated to students. Also, instructors should model vocabulary cues, such as encouraging students to describe an item when the precise word eludes them (for example: name the device which turns on the TV), or drawing a picture of the thing or activity when they cant quite come up with a word. Though most of the students journaling activity will be done as homework, the data team requests that 9th grade English teachers set-up at least one weekly in-class journaling period for students in groups to collaborate on their journal entries. This activity must be carefully planned with consideration for students privacy, but sharing selected entries could motivate students to improve their written communication skills. This sharing can also help set the journaling process in motion and, since they will want other students to properly understand their writing, give students a better idea of the importance of reading comprehension. Teachers will collect these journals every week in order to respond to the students observations, answer their questions, and mark up the above-mentioned 300 word segment of the journals for grammatical and spelling errors. As part of ongoing action research, a selection of these segments will be periodically examined by the data team in order to help them monitor student progress. There will be a 1000 word minimum requirement for each students weekly journaling.

Evidence of Implementation The data team is continuously evaluating teacher and student dispositions to new

English department initiatives. The data team members are keeping extensive notes on periodic fact-finding interactions with teachers and students. Teachers are reporting in person to a data team liaison, at least once per week, in

order to share concerns, to report progress on and problems with implementation, and to discuss lesson plans; conversations about the initiatives are the regular topic of email communications. Teachers are modeling instruction and monitoring progress, as students are:

practicing how to interact in a literacy circle; journaling effectively, fluently, and correctly; successfully adopting learning and study strategies; and learning ways to make test-taking less onerous. . The data team members, and the data teams role, in the curriculum are well-known

to all 9th grade students and teachers. The data team is maintaining an open door policy and have emphatically encouraged the members of all ninth grade classrooms teachers and studentsto confabulate with them. Students recognize the intent of the new initiatives. They appreciate that teachers are

using these tools to support their learning and help students achieve scholastic success. The schools administration respects, supports, and explicitly recognizes the work of

the data team, teachers and students in reaching for the goals of the initiative.

Teachers feel rewarded as they watch students improve in their fluency in reading

and writing, reading comprehension, and ability and willingness to participate in classroom learning activities.

Data team notes progressive improvement on benchmark assessments and higher

scores in the English HSAs. Plan for Assessment 9th grade teachers will be each complete an anonymous online Pre-Initiative Teacher Survey through the data teams Web site (See Appendix B). The results of the surveys will be compiled and synthesized, and teachers will receive feedback about the dispositions and orientations of their peers toward the various methodologies associated with the new initiatives. At the end of each marking period, there will be a benchmark test that will allow the data team to track student progress throughout the year. The benchmark assessments will offer sections on topics covered in the English HSAs: reading comprehension, vocabulary, reading inference, and the authors purpose, etc. The tests will be independent of the curriculum and will require no additional preparation. This is an attempt to quantify student progress and to offer an opportunity for teachers to identify remaining obstacles to further improvement. Important data from the benchmarks could help teachers understand students instructional needs. As Boudett, et al., (2005) suggest, this type of benchmark assessment will help teachers to identify, the types of errors students make and give them necessary information that will allow them to confer with individual students about their responses and about where they encountered difficulty (Boudett, City & Murnane, 2005).

9th grade teachers will conduct periodic interviews with students who have a history of difficulty with the English curriculum. They will be looking for changes in their affective dispositions (feelings), especially toward the new initiatives. The data team intends to use these interviews to devise a quantitative score range for student satisfaction. Over time, tracking changes in individual student dispositions toward curriculum and comparing that information with their academic progress could produce significant understanding of connections between affective and cognitive engagement. This assessment would continue and follow current 9th grade students through their senior year. Conclusion Using data on 11th grade English HSA performance and overall student population data, the data team will advance this plan for academic interventions and assessments at Panama High School in the 2012-2013 school year. In this majority Hispanic high school in which Hispanic students consistently underperform in the state assessments for English, the data team designed the initiatives with a special, though not an exclusive, focus on Hispanic students. Interventions carried out in the ninth grade will, the data team believes, be reflected in 11th grade test results. Equally important to long term success in improving our 11th graders passing rate on the HSAs is the plan to collectthrough assessment additional focused quantitative data on students. Without this data collection, the data team will be hard put to accurately identify trends and produce meaningful recommendations for further improvement. Authentic feedback from students and teachers will be indispensable to the achievement of both parts of this ambitious plan.

APPENDIX A The Data

The following charts and graphs, referred to in the text of this report, are the basis for that data teams analysis.

Demographics of Panama, MD Panama-Glenmont CDP, Maryland Statistics and Demographics (US Census 2000) Number Percent 57694 100.00% Panama Population: Sex and Age Male Female Panama MD Census data Year White Hispanic Asian Black Multiracial 1990 61% 2000 38% 2010 26% 13% 29% 42% 10% 15%
[5]

28209 29485

48.89% 51.11%

12% 17% 6% 12% 18% 5%

Enrollment Numbers by Grade

Senior, 324

Freshman, 302

Sophmore, 307 Junior, 283

Freshman

Sophmore

Junior

Senior

Student Race
[CATEGORY NAME], [VALUE]% [CATEGORY NAME], [VALUE]%

[CATEGORY NAME] [VALUE]%

[CATEGORY NAME], [VALUE]%

White

Asian

African American

Hispanic

Student Vs. Adult Ratio

Adult Professionals, 164

1217 Students

Students, 1,217

Adult Professionals, 164

% of 11th Grade Panama High School Students Who Passed the English H-S-A, 2012-2013
90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% ALL Asian Af. Am. Hispanic White LEP FARMS 16% 76% 85% 78% 71% 70% 86%

% of Panama Students Who Passed the English H-S-A, 2012-2013

Hispanic Student English HSA Performance by Grade Level: Panama High School
60% 55% 50% 51% 40% 30% 20% 15% 10% 0% 9th 10th Basic Proficient 4% 11th Advanced 5% 12th 4% 34% 47% 40% 37% 49% 59%

HSA English Score Comparison of 11th Grade Hispanic Students

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Panama HS Walter Johnson HS Einstein HS BCC HS Kennedy HS Gaithersburg HS Blair HS Northwest HS 71% 76% 77% 84% 94% 95% 85% 85%

Schoolwide Population vs. ESOL Students

ESOL, Asian, 6%

10%

11%

ESOL Population
22%

Schoolwide

57%

ESOL, Hispanic, 94%

Asian

Black

Hispanic

White

Staff Allocations:
Administration/Front Office (15 Total): (1) Principal, (2) Vice Principals, (1) Assistant School Administrator, (1) Business Manager, (1) Athletic Director, (1) Financial Specialist, (2) IT Specialists, (6) Secretaries. Building Management/Operation and Security (27 Total): (15) Building Services, (4) Security Officers, (8) Food Services Teacher/Student Assistance and Special Departments (21 Total): (1) Bioscience and Health Professional, (1) Child Development Specialist, (3) Engineers, (10) Counselors, (1) Testing Coordinator, (2) Staff Development, (1) User Support, (2) Media Teachers and (19) Para Educators Broken Down by Department, (101 Total): (3) Art Teachers, (11) English Department, (11) ESOL Department, (6) Foreign Language Department, (11) Math Department, (2) Music, (3) Physical Education, (14) Science, (10) Social Studies, (30) Special Ed

APPENDIX B Teacher Pre-Initiative Survey

Directions: Please respond to each statement below using the following scale to give your honest assessment. 1- Strongly Disagree 2- Disagree 3- Neutral/No Opinion 4- Agree 5- Strongly Agree

1. My students reading proficiency is adequate for achieving classroom objectives. _____ 2. There is an observable gap between the reading proficiency levels of Caucasian students and Hispanic students. _____ 3. Hispanic students need added literacy support to prepare for the Maryland HSA. _____ 4. I incorporate reading and writing into my class weekly. _____ 5. I incorporate read-alouds as part of my instruction. _____ 6. I teach content specific vocabulary in my classroom. _____ 7. I would support proposed instructional initiatives to improve the reading proficiency of my students. _____ 8. I would help implement proposed instructional initiatives to improve the reading proficiency of my students. _____ For Language Arts Teachers Only: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. I provide whole group reading instruction. _____ I use literary circles as part of my instruction. _____ I provide time for student journaling as part of my instruction._____ I ask my students to read aloud to the class. _____ I incorporate vocabulary into my weekly lessons._____ I believe teaching morphology in vocabulary increases reading comprehension. _____ I use various strategies to teach reading comprehension. _____ My classroom library includes texts for different reading abilities. _____ My classroom library includes texts from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. _____

APPENDIX C: Teacher Pre-Initiative Survey Results

Teacher Pre-Initative Survey
(3) Art Teachers, (11) English Department, (11) ESOL Department, (6) Foreign Language Department, (11) Math Department, (2) Music, (3) Physical Education,(14) Science, (10) Social Studies, (30) Special Ed
1- Strongly Disagree 2- Disagree 3- Neutral/No Opinion 4- Agree 5- Strongly Agree

All Teachers (101):

1
2 3 4 5

General Avg

ESOL English Teachers (11): English ESOL Teachers (11):

Avg 1

Avg

1. My students reading proficiency is adequate for achieving classroom objectives. 54 34 6 7 0 2. There is an observable gap between the reading proficiency levels of Caucasian students and Hispanic students. 0 0 5 12 84 3. Hispanic students need added literacy support to prepare for the Maryland HSA. 0 0 4 19 78 4. I incorporate reading and writing into my class weekly. 4 7 5 26 59 5. I incorporate read-alouds as part of my instruction. 4 19 9 48 21 6. I teach content specific vocabulary in my classroom. 0 2 5 13 81 7. I would support proposed instructional initiatives to improve the reading proficiency of my students. 0 0 5 32 64 8. I would help implement proposed instructional initiatives to improve the reading proficiency of my students. 0 0 8 16 77 For English teachers 1. I provide whole group reading instruction. 2. I use literary circles as part of my instruction. 3. I provide time for student journaling as part of my instruction. 4. I ask my students to read aloud to the class. 5. I incorporate vocabulary into my weekly lessons. 6. I believe teaching morphology in vocabulary increases reading comprehension. 7. I use various strategies to teach reading comprehension. 8. My classroom library includes texts for different reading abilities. 9. My classroom library includes texts from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. teacher response average 7.8 7.8 5.9 21.6 58.0

1.7

11

1.0

1.2

4.8

4.7

4.7

4.7 4.3 3.6 4.7

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 1

4 0 3 3

7 11 8 7

4.6 5.0 4.7 4.5

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

0 0 1 0

2 0 3 1

9 11 7 10

4.8 5.0 4.5 4.9

4.6

11

5.0

4.6

4.1

11

5.0

4.6

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 1

0 2 1 0 2

5 7 1 3 2

6 2 9 8 6

4.5 4.0 4.7 4.7 4.2

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

4 0 0 0

1 0 0 1

6 11 11 10

4.2 5.0 5.0 4.9

4.1 1.4 0.0 0.1 1.6 7.9 4.3 0.5 0.2 0.6 2.1 7.6

4.5

PRE-INITIATIVE TEACHER SURVEY

Schoolwide ESOL Teachers English Teachers 4.8 4.6 4.7 4.3 3.6 1.2 1.7 1.0 5.0 5.0 4.7 4.7 4.9 4.5 4.6 5.0

4.7 4.7 4.8

4.5

4.6

5.0 4.1

4.6

1. My 2. There is an 3. Hispanic observable students students reading gap between need added literacy proficiency is the reading adequate for proficiency support to achieving levels of prepare for Caucasian the classroom objectives. students and Maryland Hispanic HSA. students.

4. I 5. I 6. I teach 7. I would 8. I would incorporate incorporate content support help reading and read-alouds specific proposed implement writing into as part of my vocabulary in instructional proposed my class instruction. my initiatives to instructional weekly. classroom. improve the initiatives to reading improve the proficiency reading of my proficiency students. of my students.

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Day, D. (2008). From skeptic to believer: one teacher's journey. Reading Horizons, 48(3), 157-175.

Li, D., & Nes, S. L (2001). Using paired reading to help ESL students become fluent and accurate readers. Reading Improvement, 38, 50-61.

Mintz, E, Fiarman, S.E., & Buffett, T. (2005). Digging into data. In K. Boudett, E. City, & R, Murane (Eds.), Data wise (pp.81-96) Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Publishing.

Taylor, K. (n.d.). Successful esl strategies. Retrieved from http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/successful-esl-strategies

Uduma, E. (2011). Journal keeping in an esl classroom: an innovative approach in language learning. Journal of Education and Practice, 2(6), 59-63. Retrieved from http://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEP/article/view/527