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Inquiry Science: The Gateway to English Language Proficiency

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Journal of Science Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a 4-year project that developed and implemented a blended inquiry science and English Language Development (ELD) program in a large urban California school district. The sample included over 2,000 students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. Participating students’ English and science achievement was compared to a similar group of students who were using the district’s established English language development curriculum. Student performance on statemandated English and science assessments were analyzed using Mann–Whitney U tests for overall performance and by number of years of treatment. Modest but statistically significant improvement was found for students who participated in the blended program. Results from this study suggest that restricting instructional minutes for science to provide additional time for ELD and English language arts may be unnecessary. Rather, allowing consistent time for science instruction that incorporates ELD instruction along with inquiry science experiences may provide the authentic and purposeful context students need to develop new language without restricting access to science content.

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Notes

  1. While the gains reported are statistically significant the magnitude of the differences is not large. It is important to keep in mind that the teachers’ science teaching skills and content knowledge were developed over the 3 years of the program. These findings do not reflect the impact of a polished set of instructional materials or pedagogy but rather one that was developed throughout the lifetime of the project. Although the gains are small, the fact that they exist suggests that with further development, larger effect sizes might be seen.

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Correspondence to Susan Gomez Zwiep.

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Zwiep, S.G., Straits, W.J. Inquiry Science: The Gateway to English Language Proficiency. J Sci Teacher Educ 24, 1315–1331 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-013-9357-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-013-9357-9

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