Investigating Heterogeneous Subgroups of Young English Language Learners in Development and Learning

• In Event: 14.046 - Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: 14.046-5 - Assessment, Evaluation, and Research in the Schools

Abstract

This study applied the mixture IRT model to the Teaching Strategies GOLD® to identify unobserved heterogeneous subgroups of young English language learners. A two-class model was identified as the best fitting model. Children of Class 1 appeared to be still adjusting and children of Class 2 were beginning to be assimilated. Both classes showed a similar pattern of the item difficulty hierarchy. Class 2 had a higher level of social-emotional development than Class 1. Class 1 had a higher level of development in receptive language and Class 2 had a higher level of development in expressive language. The findings of this study provided a more nuanced understanding of variability among ELL children.

Authors

• Do-Hong Kim, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Richard G. Lambert, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Diane C. Burts, Louisiana State University