A study of teacher effectiveness in the teaching of literacy to middle school English language learners using the Language Enrichment II program

textA mixed methods study consisting of a survey and classroom observations was conducted with ten English-as-a-Second-Language teachers and 112 students from the Yellow Rose Independent School District (YRISD) to determine teacher effectiveness in the teaching of literacy to Middle School (MS) English-Language-Learners (ELLs) using the Language Enrichment II (LE II) Program. The survey explored teachers’ backgrounds, attitudes about teaching behaviors, program application, and beliefs and attitudes of the program. The classroom observations searched for classroom interaction. Five research questions were asked: (1) Is teacher effectiveness in the teaching of literacy to MS ELLs using the LE II program based on teacher background? (2) Is teacher effectiveness in the teaching of literacy to MS ELLs using the LE II program based on teacher attitudes towards teaching behaviors? (3) Is teacher effectiveness in the teaching of literacy to MS ELLs using the LE II program based on teacher application of the LE II program? (4) Is teacher effectiveness in the teaching of literacy to MS ELLs using the LE II program based on teacher beliefs and attitudes of the LE II program? (5) Is teacher effectiveness in the teaching of literacy to MS ELLs using the LE II program based on teaching behaviors? This research examined quantitative data to test the following hypotheses: There is no statistically significant difference in teacher effectiveness in the teaching of literacy to Middle School English-Language-Learners using the Language Enrichment II Program as measured by student test scores among teachers with: Ho1: different backgrounds, Ho2: different attitudes towards teaching behaviors, Ho3: different LE II application of program, Ho4: different teachers’ beliefs and attitudes of the LE II program, and Ho5: different teaching behaviors. The findings show statistically significant differences in student achievement on standardized test scores when associated with certain attributes of teacher background, teacher attitudes toward teaching behaviors, teacher application of program, teacher beliefs and attitudes of the program and teaching behavior. Thus, the null hypotheses were rejected only for certain characteristics of the independent variables.Curriculum and Instructio