Implications for Dual Language Administrative Leadership: A Comparison of the English Reading Achievement of Third Grade Students among Three Instructional Programs in a Rural School District

Abstract

This quantitative study is derived from a need to know how the leadership can support the teachers in a Two Way Dual Language (TWDL) program and a need of a comparative analysis to compare the English reading Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) scores achievement of Spanish and English speakers in third grade enrolled in a Two Way Dual Language (TWDL), Bilingual Transitional (BT) program and an English-only (EO) instructional program in a rural district.

A comparative analysis was conducted for the following comparisons: (a) compare the TAKS reading scores of native speaker of Spanish in a Two Way Dual Language program to native speaker of Spanish in a Bilingual Transitional program (b) compare the English TAKS reading scores of native speakers of Spanish (NSOS) in a Two Way Dual Language program to native speakers of English (NSOE) in an English-only program (c) compare the English TAKS reading scores of native speaker of English in a Two Way Dual Language program to native speaker of English in an English-only program (d) compare English TAKS reading scores of native speaker of English to the native speaker of Spanish in a Two Way Dual Language program.

The research indicates that English TAKS scores of native speaker of English in the Dual Language program had a higher score than those English reading TAKS scores of native speaker of English in the English-only program. The English reading TAKS scores of native speaker of Spanish in the Dual Language Program indicated no evidence for the difference in the English reading scores between the native speakers of English in the English-only program. Also, the English reading TAKS scores of native speaker of English in the Dual Language program had higher English reading TAKS scores than native speaker of Spanish in the Dual Language Program. The participants consisted of 205 students: 46 native speakers of Spanish (NSOS) and 162 native speakers of English (NSOE).