The Repository @ St. Cloud State

Open Access Knowledge and Scholarship

Date of Award

12-2015

Culminating Project Type

Thesis

Degree Name

English: Teaching English as a Second Language: M.A.

Department

English

College

College of Liberal Arts

First Advisor

James Robinson

Second Advisor

Choonkyong Kim

Third Advisor

Ramon Serrano

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Abstract

Teaching in public schools today is certainly a challenge. There are many factors that go into teaching and many standards that need to be met. There is a growing English Learner population in Central Minnesota. Standardized tests are given many times a year to measure that students are learning the content at a specific grade level.

For some of the EL students it may be the first time that they have entered a school. Other EL students were born in Minnesota and speak a different language in the home. Some of the students live a life of poverty and some do not. All of the EL students are placed in the grade that correlates with their age and they may not have had the proper foundational skills taught to them in reading. In the school in this study the test scores have continually went down over the past several years. District teachers and administrators wanted to try a piece of technology in the classrooms that could help improve the reading skills.

Technology is also a tool that the schools have used to improve reading skills and test scores. In this study the EL students had access to a device called an iPod touch. Technology is rapidly changing in the schools and it can be costly to the school. This study focused on a fifth grade class and compared test scores from two years earlier. Schools have been driven in many directions from these mandated test scores. There can be penalties for failing and rewards for passing. This study showed that technology used one hour a week had no statistical significance on student achievement.

Download

Share

COinS