“What Works” Study for Adult ESL Literacy Students Conducted by: American Institute for Research Presented at the 2004 CASAS National Summer Institute by: Barbara Lehman (559)

Focus Adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students who lack literacy skill in their native language, as well as English communication skills. These literacy students face the challenge of developing the knowledge, skills and strategies associated with decoding, comprehending, and producing print, while they still struggle with English.

Literacy students need to learn to: Put basic English sentences together Carry on a conversation Comprehend common words and idioms Fill out a simple form Read a bill Write a note Find a name and address in the phone book

Research Questions What are the characteristics of adult ESL literacy students? What types of class arrangements and instructional approaches do teachers use? What classroom and instructional variables are correlated with improving language development? Does the relationship of class and instructional variables affect student learning?

What student, program and instructional variables relate to class attendance and persistence of students? What changes in program design, resources and instruction are needed to improve English literacy and language development?

Design and Methodology Student populations: California Florida Illinois New Jersey New York Texas Later added Arizona, Florida, Minnesota and Washington

Study Sample 38 classes 13 sites 495 students from Mexico, Central America and other Spanish-speaking countries, but also included Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese, Somali, Ethiopian, and West African students. Age: 15 to 82 mean 40 Zero to six years of formal schooling

Data Collection Student sample 495 Assessment Study liaison Monthly data submission Students assessed at start of instruction, three months and nine months after instruction began, regardless of whether the student continued to attend.

Assessments Basic English Skills Test (BEST) Adult Language Assessment Scales (A-Las) Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS) Woodcock-Johnson (WJR) (BSRC) & (RCC)

Identify aspects of instruction Basic literacy development Second language acquisitions Functional literacy development (observers coded and timed these activities using a structured class observation guide). The observation guide also measured student engagement in class activities, teacher instructional strategies and overall purpose of the lesson.

Attendance The analysis found few variables related to rate and intensity of attendance. Students who entered class within the first three weeks of its start attended more hours and weeks, as did students in classes where teachers spent more time on literacy development instruction.

Growth Students in classes where teachers used activities that connected what was taught to real-life showed more development in their basic reading skills. Students in classes where the teacher used the native language in such ways as to explain concepts and answer questions, showed a higher rate of growth in reading comprehension.

Findings Students in classes where teachers connected what was taught to real-life, showed more development in their basic reading skills. Among the variables affecting students’ growth in reading comprehension was the teacher’s use of native language as an aid to instruction.

Findings continued Students in classes where instruction included strategies of varied practice and interaction that emphasized oral English communication activities and used the students’ native language in instruction showed more growth in oral English communication skills. Student samples showed no significant growth in writing skills.

Findings continued Spanish speakers consistently scored higher on all assessments than students from other language groups (they also had the most years of education). The Somali and Hmong groups had the most difficulty with the assessments as expected, given their comparative inexperience with written text.