Highly Effective Teachers of Latino English Learners: Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions for Student Success

• In Event: How Highly Effective Teachers Create Equitable Educational Opportunities for Historically Marginalized Youth

Abstract

It is predicted that Latino school-aged children will outnumber non-Latino White students in public schools by 2050 (Wolf, Herman, & Dietel, 2010). While the number of Latino English learners (ELs) continues to grow, their educational achievement continues to lag behind their non-El peers. Data reveal that EL dropout, mobility, and poverty rates are among the highest, while their achievement is amongst the lowest (Wolf, et al., 2010; Xu & Drame, 2007). Specific research-based efforts must be designed and implemented in order to improve educational opportunities and the academic attainment of ELs.
The purpose of the current study was to identify the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of highly effective teachers (HETs) who have shown success in improving the language acquisition and academic achievement of English learners during the critical upper elementary school years (grades 4-6), as this is the ideal timeframe for students who have been in U.S. schools for several years to be considered for reclassification. Reclassification from “English learner” to “English proficient” opens doors for secondary school students, permitting them to take college preparatory and elective courses. The alternative - double blocks of English instruction - often times results in disengagement, low academic performance, and high dropout rates (Olsen, 2014).
Highly effective teachers (n=7) were identified utilizing their affiliated EL students’ scores on the California English Language Development Test, California Standards Test, and district benchmark assessments. Study data were collected via student questionnaires (n=193), and classroom observations.
Our findings showed an overlap of the following instructional strategies through a cross-comparison of observation data, student survey data, and the literature review: checking for understanding, cooperative learning, explicit instruction, feedback, note taking, objectives, practice/homework, repetition, step-by-step scaffolding, visuals/nonlinguistic representations, and explicit instruction of academic vocabulary. Two items identified with high intensity in the student survey and classroom observations, which were not prominent in the literature, include explains things and having goals that are set, discussed, and reviewed on a regular basis.
In regard to dispositions, the following overlap was found: teacher care, high expectations, and being friendly/approachable.
While most strategies identified in the current study are well aligned with the literature on effective teaching, study findings bring attention to the emphasis on intensity and consistency of strategy implementation, as well as the imperative nature of teacher care and high expectations. Highly effective teachers for Latino English learners are in fact implementing “just good teaching” for all students; however, the intensity at which these strategies are being used, coupled with teacher care and high expectations, have resulted in a greater impact on the academic achievement and language acquisition of ELs.
Study recommendations include an emphasis on the development of teacher dispositions, continued implementation of explicit instructional strategies, a reiteration of the need for high expectations for ELs, and the incorporation of ‘student voice’ in teacher evaluation and reflection. Findings provide teachers with a framework of essential skills and dispositions to improve EL student achievement.

Author

• Wendy Moore, Colton Joint Unified School District