Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological Dissertation in Practice was to understand teachers' experience with the creation and use of visuals and leveled texts, written at various English proficiency levels, with English learners (ELs) in English II classrooms at a large high school in Central Florida. The need to examine teachers' experience with these scaffolds arose from the disparity between academic achievement rates of ELs and non-ELs as measured by the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA). This complex problem can be addressed from a multitude of perspectives, and this Dissertation in Practice sought to examine specific practical scaffolds that mainstream English Language Arts (ELA) teachers can and do implement in order to begin to address this gap. The main research question investigated what current ELA teachers are using and creating in regard to visuals and leveled texts for ELs at various World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) proficiencies, in their secondary classrooms. This Dissertation in Practice intended to provide practical insight for secondary educators who teach ELs alongside non-ELs in their ELA classrooms. This study included six English II teachers and through interviews, observations, lesson plans, and student work samples, five themes emerged. The themes that emerged were 1) Teachers utilize a variety of visuals and leveled texts in the classroom. 2)Teachers' introduction to scaffolds come primarily from other educators and the teacher's own means. 3)Teachers implement a variety of techniques in the classroom to accompany the use of visuals and leveled texts in the classroom. 4)The environment in which the teacher works impacts teacher use and creation of scaffolds. 5)The composition of students in the classroom impacts teacher use and creation of scaffolds. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2021

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Grissom, Donita

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

Learning Sciences and Educational Research

Degree Program

Curriculum and Instruction

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008743;DP0025474

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0025474

Language

English

Release Date

August 2021

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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