Same Curriculum, Different Approach: Case Studies of Teachers' Implementation of a Language-Based Reading Curriculum for Multilingual Learners

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Ten
  In Roundtable Session: Evidence-Based Reading Instruction From a Multilingual Standpoint (Table 9)

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes:
The purpose of this paper is to explore three teachers’ approaches to implementing a language-based reading curriculum for multilingual learners. We explored the degree to which a specific curriculum, infused with four principles of multilingual literacy instruction (Author C, 2021; see framework below), could be reliably implemented to promote multilingual student engagement.

Perspective(s) or Theoretical Framework:
The curriculum was theoretically and empirically grounded in four dimensions of literacy instruction that emerge from research with multilingual populations: 1. Center metalinguistic awareness so that students are thinking and talking about how language functions structurally and within texts; 2. Use dialogic teaching approaches that allow students to talk and co-construct knowledge and understandings; 3. Leverage multimodal texts and scaffolds to build background knowledge and comprehension; and 4. Adopt a multilingual perspective that privileges the diverse linguistic repertoires that students bring to their classrooms.

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry:
We asked the following questions:
How do three teachers implement a common curriculum designed for multilingual 4th and 5th grade students? What are commonalities and differences?
Is the curriculum sufficient for supporting instruction that privileges multilingual learners and the repertoires they possess?

Participants:
As part of an ongoing research study, three fourth grade teachers from a large school district in the Northeast implemented the curriculum during the 2021 - 2022 school year. All had >5 years teaching experience. One was a Spanish-English speaker, while the other two reported speaking only English. Two were classroom teachers and one was a reading specialist.

Twenty-four students participated. Half of the students (n = 12) were bilingual (i.e., they reported speaking Spanish and English) while the other half (n = 12) reported speaking only English. Each teacher taught two groups of 4 students.

Using the data sources described next, we created instructional case narratives for each of the three teachers structured around answering the main research questions.

Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials
Video recorded instruction. We recorded each teacher at three different points during the implementation period (January 2022 - May 2022), for each of their groups (n = 6 video observations per teacher).

Teacher surveys. We surveyed teachers about their attitudes toward language, perspectives on teaching, and teaching multilingual students at the end of the implementation period.

Results and/or Substantiated Conclusions:
Observational data suggest that the curriculum was appropriate for supporting a focus on metalinguistic awareness and multimodal texts and scaffolds. However, triangulating observations with surveys revealed that dialogic approaches to instruction were variable, and teachers reported monolingual perspectives that qualitatively interacted with instruction to reveal constraints on student talk and use of the varied linguistic repertoires students brought to instruction.

Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
The study shows dimensions of curriculum design that can be effectively integrated for instruction (i.e., focus on metalinguistics and multimodality). However, dialogic and multilingual components interacted with teacher attitudes toward language and instructional talk that resulted in variable implementation practices.

Authors

• Patrick Proctor, Boston College
  Presenting Author

• Michael J. Kieffer, New York University
  Presenting Author

• Rebecca Silverman, Stanford University
  Presenting Author