Date of Award

Summer 8-21-2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Executive Ed.D. in Education Leadership Management and Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Monica Browne, Ed.D.

Committee Member

Richard Blissett, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Renee Whelan, Ed.D.

Committee Member

Courtney Pepe, Ed.D.

Keywords

bilingual education, dual language education, dual language immersion program, English immersion, language allocation plan, two-way immersion program

Abstract

This quantitative study investigated the achievement in English language arts (ELA) and math of students in grades four through six in 50/50 two-way dual language immersion (DLI) programs, as measured by the Spring 2018 PARCC assessments. The study builds on previous research indicating that students in DLI programs perform as well or better than their general education counterparts, and expands on that research by investigating two DLI programs with differing language allocation plans as the program variable of interest: a weekly plan in Englewood, NJ, and a daily plan in Woodstock, IL. Linear multiple regression analysis was used to control for gender, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and English learner status. Findings indicate that, in both districts, students in the DLI program outperformed their peers in the non-DLI program on the PARCC ELA and Math assessments, regardless of the language allocation plan. In comparing the two program models, the positive differences in the scores for students in the DLI program were statistically significant for both assessments in Woodstock, and in Englewood they were statistically significant for PARCC Math and marginally significant for PARCC ELA. In Englewood, the sizes of the differences were larger and represented a larger percentage of the standard deviation. This indicates that there is some evidence that academic outcomes for students in the DLI program with a weekly language allocation plan were higher, as measured by PARCC. The study offers practical guidance to school districts for the implementation of dual language immersion programs that facilitate positive student outcomes. Limitations and delimitations of the study, as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.

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