The increase in language minority students in U.S. schools has drawn attention to instructional models designed to assist these students. It is critical that literacy educators understand the potential of these models for literacy achievement. This study was designed to examine reading achievement of elementary English language learners in classrooms where teachers implemented a popular sheltered instruction model called SIOP (Echevarria,

Vogt, & Short, 2004) compared with students of teachers who have not received instruction in the model. Through a mixed methods study linking professional development, teacher learning, and student achievement, researchers found significant differences in classrooms where the model was well-implemented. However, the differences come with qualifications, and the findings are critiqued in light of sociocultural theory and studies on professional development.

Keywords english language learners, professional development, reading achievement, sheltered instruction, teacher learning

In recent years the United States has seen a huge increase in language minority students in schools. Many are new immigrants from non-English-speaking lands, and many more are students born in the United States of language minority parents and grow up hearing a tongue other than English in the home. As a result, our schools are more ethnically and linguistically diverse, with reports of over 14 million language minority students (August, 2006). Between 1980 and 2000, the Hispanic population in the United States more than doubled and now constitutes the largest minority population. Hispanics will represent 30% of the total school population by 2050 (Waggoner, 2000).

Of concern are the low levels of school achievement among many of these students and the lack of research-proven instructional models for teaching them. The consensus is that currently, "research has failed to provide a complete answer to what constitutes high quality instruction for language minority students" (August & Shanahan, 2006a, p. 16). In order to build a research base on the effectiveness of instruction for language minority youth, stuthes of the effects of instructional models on student learning are critical. Additionally, it is essential that literacy educators become aware of the popular instructional models being implemented for English language learners (ELLs) in order to reflect on the coherence of these models with research-based literacy practices (e.g., Farstrup & Samuels, 2002) and how the models might affect reading and/or writing achievement of these students. (This article summary only, to get the full text please login or register and contact admin web)

Ellen McIntyre,  Diane Kyle,  Cheng-Ting Chen,  Marco Muñoz,  Scott Beldon.  Literacy Research and Instruction.  Coral Gables:2010.  Vol. 49,  Iss. 4,  p. 334-351 (18 pp.)