Meyer-Houston Research

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4th Grade Bloggers! Julie Meyer-Houston Home Learn More Standards Inspiration About the Author

Research into How Technology Supports and Sustains Learning for English Language Learners (and ALL students)

Details of my action research can be found by scrolling through the document below. Click on the four arrows at the bottom right to view it in full-screen mode.

Background and Need

Literacy is important in modern society for many reasons (social interactions, education, business, technology, and leisure); for example, to read/write directions, to broaden one’s perspective about other cultures while also critically reflecting on one’s own worldview, to take part in the workforce, to participate in democratic processes, and to contribute to society. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has viewed literacy as a fundamental human right for over the past 65 years. It believes humankind has achieved epic progress because of growing literacy around the world by enabling good health, economic security, and technological advances. Darling-Hammond (2006) provided the following statistics to emphasize the need for literacy: over 80 percent of the California inmate population were functionally illiterate as well as high school dropouts, which meant there was fundamentally a higher likelihood of them being incarcerated due to their lack of ability to participate meaningfully in society and to obtain gainful employment.

In addition, according to the April 2016 Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) report, the 2014-2015 Smarter Balanced assessments (SBAC) revealed that high-need students (economically disadvantaged students, English Learners, and students in foster care) are far behind other student groups in achieving Proficient and/or Advanced levels in meeting California Common Core State State Standards (CCCSS). If those results repeat to become a continuing trend, high-need students will not become as successful throughout their paths into adulthood as their proficient peers. Therefore, districts, schools, and teachers need to address this achievement gap by examining their practices at both macro- and micro-levels, particularly those associated with literacy.

NAEP Report for California's Fourth Graders

The graph above as well as the table below show that according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results for fourth-grade students, in 2015, the average score in California was 213, which was lower than the national average score of 221 for public school fourth-graders. That 213 score was higher that their average score (202) in 1998 for California. The percentage of fourth-graders in California who performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level was 28% in 2015, which is greater than the 20% in 1998. The score gaps for four-grade student groups in California during 2015 were (1) African-Americans had an average score that was 33 points lower than Caucasians; (2) Hispanic students had an average score that was 31 points lower than Caucasians; (3) females had an average score that was six points higher than that for males; (4) students who were eligible for free/reduced-price school lunch, as an indicator of low family income, had an average score that was 32 points lower than students who were not eligible. These gaps were not significantly different from those in 1998.