Capstone: Curriculum Frameworks for ELL Reading Needs - Capella Uni

This capstone project examines and evaluates current curriculum frameworks and instructional practices at a local public-school academy to determine if they meet the language learning needs of English Language Learners (ELL) in reading. It addresses the necessity for developing systematic practices that focus on the increasing ELL population, incorporating socio-cultural aspects, and addressing weaknesses in current program design and instructional delivery. The project aims to improve program implementation and educational outcomes for ELLs, particularly in reading, by identifying and clarifying declining academic achievement, promoting appropriate actions, and fostering new patterns of thinking, practices, strategies, and interventions. The study's findings have positively impacted the school, encouraging staff to adopt and support the school's mission and vision, resulting in increased community engagement and student enrollment. The research was conducted at Capella University.

EXAMINATION OF CURRENT CURRIULUM FRAMEWORKS UTILIZED IN THE
FIELD TO MEET THE LANGUAGE LEARNING NEEDS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LEARNERS IN THE CONTENT AREA OF READING
By
Reem Barada
DR. CHRIS STABILE, EdD, Faculty Mentor and Chair
DR. LAURA TRURJILLO-JENKS, EdD, Committee Member
DR. MICHAEL JAZZAR, EdD, Committee Member
Curtis R. Brant, PhD, Interim Dean, School of Education
A Doctoral Capstone Project Presented in Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Education
Capella University

© Reem Barada, 2018

Abstract
The capstone project is an examination and evaluation of the current curriculum framework and
instructional practices at a local public-school academy and whether it meets the language
learning challenges of English Language Learners in the content area of reading. The project
addresses the need for the development of practices that contain a systematic and organized body
of knowledge that focuses on the increasing populations of English Language Learners and
learners who have learned English in foreign countries. Many curriculums do not incorporate the
multiple dimensions of social-cultural language, culture and tradition, and value systems into
instructional practices. The topic addresses weaknesses in current program design and delivery
of instructional practices required of classroom teachers to meet the specific learning needs of
the English Language Learner (ELL) student populations in current classrooms. The deliverable
for the Capstone Project is a paper that describes the Evaluation Study and its intention to
improve program implementation and educational outcomes for English Language Learners
(ELL) specifically in the content area of reading. It will identify and provide clarification of
declining academic achievement specifically in the content area of reading; appropriate actions,
nurture new patterns of thinking, practices delivery, strategies and interventions that will bridge
existing gaps in program implementation and future educational outcomes for English Language
Learners. The learning environment remains a viable learning environment, yet it must learn
from its errors, redetermine long-range goals; make improvements to internal processes;
reestablish the Multicultural Framework for Learning and the Motivational Framework for
Responsive Teaching and begin meeting the learning challenges of language learners in the
community. The findings from the study have resulted in a positive impact on the school and its
teachers. They have begun to look internally for answers to solve the school’s problems. All staff

have begun to adopt and support the mission and the vision in their daily encounters with each
other and the community. All staff has been rallying together to reconfirm the school’s purpose
within the community and the community. This action has resulted in a waiting list for the
upcoming school year, a condition that the school has not seen for the last two years.

Dedication
Mo and Hadeel, I dedicate my life and work to you. You have encouraged me, stood with
me and behind me to allow me to keep traveling forward on this educational journey. Having
your voices in my head and in my heart kept me focused and dedicated toward my goal. As you
have loved me, you are also loved.
iii

Acknowledgments
Over the years, I have had the support and encouragement of many who have assisted me
throughout my educational career. I would like to humbly extend my appreciation to Dr.
Christopher Stabile, my mentor on the Doctoral journey and the Doctoral Committee members,
Dr. Laura Trujillo and Dr. Michael Jazzar. I have only simple words to express for their patience,
guidance, understanding, and encouragement as I traveled along this Doctoral journey. I remain
grateful and thankful to you all.
“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make
our souls blossom.” -Marcel Proust
iv

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments iv
List of Tables vii
List of Figures viii
SECTION 1. BACKGROUND
Overview of Doctoral Capstone Project 1
Alignment to the Specialization 6
Problem Statement and Purpose of the Deliverable 9
Evidence/Data Used to Establish Rationale for Deliverable 12
Historical Background of the Problem 13
Organizational Context 19
Theoretical Framework 20
Other Scholarly Literature 24
Ethical Considerations 25
SECTION 2. PROCESS
Introduction 32
Project Design/Method 33
Project Outcomes 39
Development Process 43
Evaluation Plan 46
SECTION 3. APPLICATION
Introduction 57
v

Problem Statement and Purpose of the Deliverable 58
Relevant Outcomes and Findings 59
Application and Benefits 69
Target Audience 69
Institution/Setting 70
Beyond the Local Setting 72
Implications for the Professional Specialization 73
Recommendations 75
Conclusion 82
REFERENCES 84
vi

List of Tables
Table 1. Number of Immigrants in U.S. 1980-2014 [2]
Table 2. Public Elementary and Secondary School enrollment Fall 2014 [3]
Table 3: Estimation of ELL Enrollment [5]
Table 4: Percentage of public K–12 students who were English language learners, [8]
by grade level: Fall 2015
vii

List of Figures
Figure 1. Components of Stufflebeam’s (2003) CIPP Model [33]
viii

SECTION 1. BACKGROUND
Overview of Doctoral Capstone Project
The effects of globalization have been far-reaching and have changed the face of local
communities, the national economy and traditional white classrooms throughout the United
States. Advances in technology have made it possible for individuals to move with ease about the
world, for a multitude of reasons and settle into communities that were once unavailable to them.
Herrera (2012) stated that across the world more than 200 million people reside in a country
different from their birth country and are assimilating. The effects of globalization pose vast
challenges for local governments, communities, schools and for classroom teachers.
Globalization also brings about the movement of ideas across local contexts (Paine,
Syahril & Ayadarova, 2017; Castelli, 2016). Historically, the United States has been a world
leader as a receiving country for unprecedented numbers of people migrating from
underdeveloped countries to the developing world. This alone dramatically influences the course
of curriculum and instructional practices in schools and classrooms. Globalization is not only the
result of the movement of materials and people from one place to another, but it is also the
exchange of ideas and the growth of international, transnational and global perspectives on
education and teaching (Paine, Syahril & Ayadarova, 2017; Castelli, 2016).
The geographical spread of immigrants across the U.S. implies an increasingly diffuse
grouping of English Language Learners in classrooms. Immigrants in America have moved out
and beyond historical gateways in major cities into traditionally white suburban and rural areas
1

resulting in more than half of Public Schools that serve English Language Learners are not in
major urban cities (NECLA, 2016).
Table 1: Number Immigrants in U. S. 1980-2014
Sourced: Data from U.S. Census Bureau 2006, 2010, and 2014. American Community Surveys (ACS), and Campbell J. Gibson and Kay Jung.
“Historical Statistics on the Foreign-Born population of the United States. 1850-2000. (Working Paper no. 81 U.S. Census Bureau Washington,
D.C. February 2006.
Due to this freedom of mobility, families are settling into and reviving communities that
were once thought to be dying and enrolling students into all classroom levels of the American
educational system. These students are bringing with them a multitude of learning needs and
cultural perspectives. Nesbit (2013) argued that individuals from differing parts of the world
bring with them alternative perspectives on social structures, philosophies as well as educational
expectations (Viega et al., 2000).
In 2012-2013, English Language Learners comprised nearly 10%, or 4.85 million of the
total enrollments in U.S. public schools (Ruiz- Soto et al., 2015; NCELA, 2011). The National
Center on Education Statistics (NCES, 2018) reports that in the 2014-2015 school year an
estimated that 4.6 million English Language Learners (ELL) were actively enrolled in U.S.
schools. The numbers have increased slowly over the past years with an estimated 4.3 million
students or 9.1 % of total public-school enrollment in the 2004–05 school year; and 4.5 million
2