Exploring the Synergy between Science Literacy and Language Literacy with English Language Learners: Lessons Learned within a Sustained Professional Development Program

Thirty-five elementary teachers participated in a yearlong professional development (PD) program whose goal was to foster science content learning while promoting language literacy for English Language Learners (ELL). The researchers utilized an explanatory design methodology to determine the degree...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSRATE journal Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 33 - 38
Main Authors Carrejo, David J, Reinhartz, Judy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Southeastern Regional Association of Teacher Educators 2012
Subjects
Content Area Reading
Elementary School Science
Elementary School Teachers
English (Second Language)
English Language Learners
Faculty Development
Grade 5
Integrated Curriculum
Praxis
Reading Tests
Science Teachers
Scientific Literacy
Second Language Learning
Teacher Role
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Summary:Thirty-five elementary teachers participated in a yearlong professional development (PD) program whose goal was to foster science content learning while promoting language literacy for English Language Learners (ELL). The researchers utilized an explanatory design methodology to determine the degree to which science and language literacy co-developed. The research question guiding this study was: In what ways did the yearlong PD science program support teachers at 10 elementary schools to become more knowledgeable about fostering science literacy and its role in co-developing language literacy (e.g. reading, writing, listening, and speaking) for ELL? The measurable and significant gains on the quantitative state science and reading tests and the analysis of qualitative teaching episodes led to the conclusion that there is a synergy between science learning and language learning--as one increases, so does the other. (Contains 2 tables.)
ISSN:1068-1752