Attributes That Promote Academic Resilience Among At-Risk English Learners in Two South Texas Middle Schools

Abstract

The findings of this study revealed that there were no significant correlations between the intrinsic or extrinsic factors and Resiliency or Proficiency. There were, however, practically significant effect sizes between intrinsic and extrinsic factors and Resiliency and Proficiency. There were strong associations between intrinsic and extrinsic factors, meaning that when intrinsic factors in ELs/monitored ELs were present, the extrinsic factors were also present. ELs and monitored ELs who had more At-Risk factors were in the Non-Resilient group. There were significant associations found between At-Risk and English Proficiency factors. The regression analyses reported in this study indicated that the scores of TELPAS and Proficiency were explained by extrinsic and intrinsic factors with the same amount of variance when both Resilient and Non-Resilient groups were included and when only the Resilient group was analyzed. The Resilient group had a higher percentage of variance explained by the independent variables. The variance of Average Grade was better explained by the intrinsic factor of Motivation when the Resilient and Non-Resilient group were analyzed together. ELs/monitored ELs learn better when teachers incorporate instructional strategies and effective teaching practices in the classroom. The data revealed that students get support from their teacher in the form of encouragement and motivation. Furthermore, the students who did not receive help from their parents at home received it from other family members or from teachers at school.