Contributions of tracking, literacy skills, and attitudes to science achievement of students with varied English proficiency

ABSTRACT

This study examined contributions of academic ability tracking, disciplinary attitudes (science anxiety and self-efficacy), and discipline-specific literacy skills (science and academic vocabulary knowledge) to students’ science achievement in a sample of 104 Grade 8 students (78% current or former English learners [ELs]) enrolled in high- versus low-track (50/50) classrooms at a Pacific Northwest urban junior high school. The final regression model explained 46% of the variance in students’ science reading comprehension scores; 11% of the variance in reading scores was uniquely explained by science vocabulary knowledge, above and beyond anxiety, self-efficacy, and tracking. Similarly, the final regression model explained 41% of the variance in students’ end-of-the unit science test scores; 20% of the variance was uniquely attributed to science vocabulary knowledge above and beyond anxiety, self-efficacy, academic vocabulary knowledge, science reading comprehension, and tracking. From a practical perspective, the results suggest that students need more explicit science vocabulary instruction to perform better on reading and achievement tasks, regardless of their track designation. From a policy perspective, current ELs’ underrepresentation in higher-track classes calls into question the equity of instruction provided to students. Recommendations to increase ELs’ access to academic content are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• English learners
• integrated classrooms
• tracking
• science and academic vocabulary
• science achievement
• science reading comprehension
• science anxiety and self-efficacy

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the wonderful research assistants for their tireless work on the project and to the school's administration, teachers, and students for their support, assistance, and study participation. We are also grateful to Prof. Jean-Marc Dewaele, the journal editor, and to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable input to our manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Anna Karin Roo is a PhD Candidate at Washington State University, USA. With her earlier MA TESOL degree, she taught outside the USA. Her research interests are related to science literacy for learners of English. Her publications can be found in Learning and Individual Differences and Journal of Educational Research.

Yuliya Ardasheva is an Assistant Professor in ELL/Bilingual Education at Washington State University, USA. Her research focuses on the interplay between second language and academic development and the contributions of individual differences to language learning. She has published her work in Review of Educational Research, TESOL Quarterly, and Language Learning.

Sarah N. Newcomer is Assistant Professor of Literacy Education in the College of Education at Washington State University, USA. Her research focuses on culturally responsive and socially just literacy practices, school–family–community partnerships, and the effects of educational policy on literacy education, particularly for culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Margarita Vidrio Magaña is a PhD Candidate in the Mathematics and Science Education PhD program, with a focus on ELL/bilingual students, at Washington State University Tri-Cities, USA. Her research interests include migrant youth, student motivation, English language learners, and youth participatory action research methods.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported in part by Washington State University College of Education's Faculty Research Funding Award given to the second author and her colleagues, Dr. Jonah Firestone and Dr. Richard Lamb.