Running head: HELPING SECONDARY LEP STUDENTS

HELPING SECONDARY LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT (LEP) STUDENTS FROM

FAILING COURSES WITH SUCCESSFUL INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS

An Action Research Project

Presented to
Dr. Deborah Goodwin
Assistant Professor
EDAD 595
Texas A&M University Commerce

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Education in Education Administration
by
Elsa Cardenas

Running head: HELPING SECONDARY LEP STUDENTS

Helping Secondary Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students From Failing Courses with
Successful Teaching Methods
In 2014 there was an increase of immigrant children from Mxico and Central America
flooding the United States which estimated about 70,000 unaccompanied minors.
(Unaccompanied, 2015) Irving ISD is predominantly a 71.7 % Hispanic populated district and
many of these unaccompanied minors arrived to three of the Secondary schools in Irving, Texas
and the growth of Limited English Proficient students entering the classrooms increased. (201314 TAPR, p. 14) This drove the administrators to take drastic measures to help understand and
help these students.
Every six weeks, each teacher runs a report for LEP, or Limited English Proficiency
students to provide documentation for students that are failing their classes and 57% of the
students were found to have made no progress. (Department, 2015) The amount of Linguistic
Accommodations forms for failing LEP students began to become overwhelming. Many teachers
imaged they could handle the Limited English Proficient students and provide appropriate
accommodations but many teachers failed to understand the unique needs of these students.
Research Questions
1. What are the best instructional methods educators can use differentiated
instruction to meet the needs of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students?
2. What can the school district or administrators do in order to prepare and provide
adequate professional development to educators to enhance Limited English Proficiency
(LEP) student learning with language objectives and supplementary materials?

Running head: HELPING SECONDARY LEP STUDENTS

3. Why are Limited English Proficiency students showing no progress in mainstream
classrooms and what are the difference in grades with teachers and specialist who were
given professional development versus teachers and specialist that were not?
Significance of Study
Immigrants constitute the fastest growing group of students in U.S. schools, and many
demographers predict that by 2025 approximately 20% to 25% of students enrolled in
elementary and secondary schools will have limited proficiency in English (LEP) (Elfers, A. M.,
& Stritikus, T. (2014). The significance of this study is to facilitate and create a support system
for classroom teachers to provide adequate instructional methods that bring about academic
achieve with LEP students. This research is intended to bring about instructional change within
the school and district leadership and to inquire which measures are being performed to assist
ESL, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and general education teachers to
provide instruction, supplements and instructional methods in response to ELL and their learning
needs. Some of the instructional methods that bring academic achievement and that will be
studied are: CALLA - Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach, TPR - Total Physical
Response, Cooperative Learning, Academic language scaffolding, Native language support and
Realia Strategies. (Reed, B., Railsback, J., 2003)
Method of Procedure
The method of procedure that will be conducted is a mixed method case study that will
include interviews with LEP students, ESL Specialist, teachers and administrators. Also there
will be classroom observations and document analysis on Texas English Language Proficiency
Assessment System (TELPAS) scores and writings. The study will also look at themes of

successful and unsuccessful instructional methods used and lesson plans that have modifications

Running head: HELPING SECONDARY LEP STUDENTS

for ELL or LEP students. The World Languages director and Secondary ELL Coordinator will be
contacted to help inform campus administrators and teachers of the benefits of the study and how
important it is for teachers to choose appropriate instructional methods, modifications and
accommodations and understand the difference to help improve academic instruction and make
learning easier and successful for LEP students.
Selection of Sample
The participants that will serve as my sample for the study will be LEP students, ESL
specialists and non-ESL teachers. The three high school campuses in Irving ISD will be observed
to see which campus has success with the policy that the district has in place for LEP. Students
from grades 10th through 12th grade will be observed -- 20 LEP students from each grade level.
The classrooms that will be observed will be ESL content based classes, common core (Math,
ELAR and Science) classes and foreign language classes. The study will also examine the
different grades that the students make in these classes, how each one differs and why some are
more successful in one and not in the others.
Design
The type of research design that I will utilize is a mixed method design. The two groups
that were selected were teachers and specialist that will be given professional development on a
six weeks bases versus teachers and specialist that were not and then comparing LEP students
grades in ESL content based classes, common core classes (Math, ELAR and Science) and
foreign language classes. It will also compare instructional methods used to help LEP or ELL
students. For quantitative design in order to determine the selected ELL students for each of the
three campuses which will be 20 students of each grade levels by looking at the scores of their
Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) ratings. Each one will be selected

Running head: HELPING SECONDARY LEP STUDENTS

by different levels English proficiency based on those scores. For qualitative design the ELL
students will be interviewed on the instructional methods that they feel help them to succeed the
most from their classes.
Data Analysis
The way that this research will collect, organize and analyze data will be during a school
year. Participants will be selected after the first six weeks of school. Since teachers will be
preparing their own lesson plans the researchers will be checked on a weekly bases to see what
type of accommodations or modifications teachers use in each lesson to assist their LEP students.
Classroom observations will be conducted with teaches that have professional development on a
six weeks bases to see if LEP students are engaged more in one class than the other and if they
perform better versus those that do not. Classroom observations will also be observed on how
much interaction the teacher has with LEP students and seating arrangements. The research will
also provide open ended questionnaires on a quarterly bases and have follow up interviews with
teachers, students and administrators.
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Running head: HELPING SECONDARY LEP STUDENTS

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Running head: HELPING SECONDARY LEP STUDENTS

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