Program
Education Doctorate
Number of Pages
141
Year Approved
2024
First Advisor
Melanie Keillor, Dynna Castillo Portugal
Second Reader
Sarah Tahtinen-Pacheco
Abstract
English Learners (ELs) are one of the fastest-growing student populations in K-12 schools, and attention must be given to the academic achievement gap between ELs and their native English language speaking counterparts. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed in 2015, required every state to adopt English proficiency standards aligned with state academic standards to meet these content and language standards. To shrink the achievement gap, educators must look at how content teachers should teach the essential content standards while providing language instruction and scaffolding for ELs in their classrooms. The rapid growth of the EL population has not been met with sufficient growth in teachers’ understanding of how to provide all students access to academic standards in content classrooms. This qualitative case study examined teacher perceptions of the support received during teacher preparation programs (TPPs) including school level professional development and at the classroom level on instructing ELs in content-focused classrooms. Study findings reveal how each level of support and training aligns and/or diverges from each other and identify potential gaps. The findings can be used to improve support for content teachers who instruct ELs in content-focused classrooms and improve the achievement of ELs in content-focused classrooms.
Degree Name
Education Doctorate
Document Type
Doctoral dissertation
Recommended Citation
Pare, J. (2024). A Qualitative Case Study: Teacher Perceptions of the Support Received When Working With English Learners [Doctoral dissertation, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/1082