How Can a Monthly Newsletter Raise a School Staff’s Awareness of the Cultural and Linguistic Needs of ELs?

Term

Spring 4-27-2015

Capstone

Thesis

Degree Name

MAESL

Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair

Kathryn Heinze

Secondary Advisor/Reader One

Ann Mabbott

Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two

Jincy Vaitkunas

Abstract

Each year the United States becomes more culturally and linguistically diverse, with more than 90 percent of immigrants coming from non-English-speaking countries. In order to develop the best learning environment to ensure English learners success, school staff needs to learn about the cultural and linguistic needs of students. This study included a pre-survey, three cultural newsletters and a post-survey. The objective was to see if there was a difference in school’s staff knowledge of the cultural and linguistic needs of the ELs after reading the cultural newsletters. The study included both a Likertscale and open text boxes for staff to record their responses. The Likert-scale instrument was not sensitive enough to reflect notable results; however, the open text box responses revealed considerable growth in knowledge.

Keywords

ESL/ ELLs, Multicultural Education, Reflective Practice, Staff Development

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