In December, Peggy Estrada, an associate research scientist in Latin American and Latino studies at UC Santa Cruz, was awarded a research grant to study the classroom composition of California classrooms and specifically whether integration or separation of ELLs affects their learning opportunities. The Spencer Foundation awarded the grant called “English Learner Achievement in Elementary School: Classroom Composition and Opportunity to Learn.” Over the next three years, Estrada will work with colleagues Timea Farkas and Claude Goldenberg to conduct a small-scale experiment with 16 schools in California, where 42% of K-12 students are said to be non-native English speakers.
In a UCSC news release, Estrada stated that three main questions will be examined in the study. “First, do English language arts classroom practices differ depending on the classroom composition, and if so, how? Second, do classroom practices and classroom composition each predict student achievement? And finally, if we find a relation between classroom composition and student achievement, is that accounted for by classroom practices?”
Read more in the UCSC press release.