Large-Scale Evidence of the Importance of Literacy Instruction in U.S. History for English Learners

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 79
  In Roundtable Session: Emerging Research in the Teaching of History

Abstract

States are beginning to restructure their U.S. history assessments from previous multiple-choice exams to include written-response questions that have higher levels of academic language demands. The purpose of the current study is to investigate how the restructuring of a U.S. history state assessment is associated with English Learners’ (EL) achievement over time. The author incorporates 3 years of data from the Tennessee Department of Education, and utilizes multi-level modeling to examine and compare the association between school percentage ELs and U.S. history achievement. Findings identified a negative inverse association between the restructuring of the assessment and ELs’ performance. The findings suggest that ELs’ lack of U.S. history reading and writing ability may have contributed to the negative association.

Author

• Jason Miller, University of Virginia