This paper presents an overview of classroom life and instruction in selected classrooms within two settings where English learners (ELs) prosper. These settings are noteworthy because student outcomes differ from the outcomes that are normally observed for ELs. National testing in 2005 indicated that nearly one-half (46%) of 4th grade students in the EL category scored below a basic level in mathematics—the lowest possible level, with nearly three-quarters (73%) scoring below basic in reading. Middle school achievement in mathematics and reading were also very low, with more than two-thirds (71%) of 8th grade ELs scoring below basic in both math and an equal percent of these students scoring below basic in reading (Fry, 2007). At Metropolitan Elementary and Secondary Academic District (MESA), the school district in which this study took place, only 13.8% of elementary English learners scored proficient or advanced on the 2008 English Language Arts portion of the CST and almost one-half (46.6%) scored far below basic or below basic. These numbers are in stark contrast to English Only (EO) students district wide, of whom more than one-half (50.2%) scored proficient or advanced on the 2008 English Language Arts portion of the CST and about 19% scored far below basic or below basic.
Conversely, at Archimedes and Orquidea Elementary Schools within the MESA District, EL students receiving bilingual services have demonstrated strong academic gains, either across the entire school, as is the case for Archimedes, or in the program-specific classrooms included in this study, which is the case for Orquidea. At the time the study began,Archimedes consistently met all 21 criteria of the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements outlined by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. More than 30% of EL students whose home language was Spanish and who were enrolled in Waiver-to-Basic Bilingual (WB) classes at Archimedes scored proficient or advanced on the 2008 English Language Arts portion of the CST (see Table 1). Although the school-wide achievement levels for ELs at Orquidea are less impressive, with only 18% of ELs whose home language was Spanish in WB classrooms scoring proficient or advanced on the ELA-CST, students performed at much higher levels in the individual Orquidea classrooms studied. For instance, 68% of 4th graders in the sample WB classroom scored proficient or advanced on the 2008 English Language Arts portion of the CST, and 70% of the 2nd graders in the sample classroom scored proficient or advanced on the same test, outscoring all other language groups at the school. Thus, the major interest in these schools and classrooms is that students we studied from Archimedes and Orquidea outperform their peers in many other schools and classrooms. The story of these schools is remarkable, given the low district, state, and national achievement levels characterizing schools serving similar student populations.
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