English Language Learners and Factors Impacting High Schools English Language Arts Assessment Results
Danielle Nagy
Co-Presenters: Alexa Velotti
College: College of Education
Major: Elementary Education
Faculty Research Mentor: Sehba Mahmood
Abstract:
National Education Association predicts that by 2025, 1 out of 4 children in classrooms across the nation will be an English Language Learner (ELL) student. New Jersey Department of Education has reported that while general populations of students in New Jersey decreased, the percentage of Multilingual Learners increased. The first aim of this research is to explore if there is an association between the number of ELL and the school’s English Language Arts (ELA) results. A concomitant aim was to examine what factors impact the level of performance for 9th grade ELA results. We are examining the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments as these assessments are used to inform state and federal agencies about the efficacy of states’ efforts to support students and is also used to inform educators how best to respond to the instructional needs of their students. The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Accountability System requires states to identifies schools that are in need of comprehensive and targeted support as required by ESSA. This will be addressed through our research objectives. This research is based on data from Mercer and Union counties in New Jersey. Data collection is underway, and the results will be available in the near future. The results will likely inform policies and practices for supporting ELL students.