An examination of predictive bias for second grade reading outcomes from measures of early literacy skills in kindergarten with respect to English-language learners and ethnic subgroups.

Abstract

The assessment of early literacy skills during the kindergarten year can provide useful information about student performance in prereading skills, which are predictors of later reading achievement. This study examined the use of fluency-based prompts of student phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, and oral reading at the end of kindergarten for predicting later reading achievement at the end of second grade. Predictive validity and bias studies were undertaken with respect to English-language learners (ELLs) and four selected ethnic subgroups: European American (EA), African American (AA), Asian American (AsA), and Hispanic American (HA). Results indicated that the predictive validity of the early literacy measures was strong, and no evidence of predictive bias for ELL and non-ELL groups was found. However, evidence of a small amount of predictive bias was found between the EA and HA students with respect to intercept differences.

Early Literacy Skills and English Language Learners: an Analysis of Students In A Title I School

“…This finding corroborates the work of Hagans (2008), Ball and Gettinger (2009), and Gyovai et al (2009), who found that specific instruction based on needs and appropriate intervention can be advantageous and, in turn, increase test scores for ELL students. This is most beneficial when teachers are able to specifically create student grouping based on assessment scores and are able to tailor instruction to the needs of comparably clustered learners.…”

“…Although some students remained in the "at risk" category, their scores within that category rose. The study found that, similar to Ball andGettinger (2009) andHagans (2008), student achievement increased with the implementation of systematic intervention in an urban school setting. The present study sought to corroborate findings that intervention has increased student skills in an urban setting.…”

“…Based on these findings, the current study anticipated similar testing results, as they have similar student demographics and intervention policies. Betts et al (2008) began to look at the ELL subgroup more closely. Instead of classifying a student as an ELL or not, the study considered their level of English language proficiency and compared ORF scores for both native English speakers and language learners in the second grade.…”

“…Building from Betts et al (2008) are Gutiérrez and Vanderwood (2013), who studied the growth of 260 second-grade ELLs in six different schools with multiple levels of English language proficiency. For the analysis, the authors used the CELDT (California English Language Development Test) to measure language proficiency and the DIBELS to measure early literacy skills for an entire school year.…”

“…They explained that while most students' literacy skills grow exponentially during early school years, those who leave elementary behind their peers were usually already behind their peers as early as kindergarten. Ball and Gettinger (2009) implemented three procedures during a nine-week period of time.…”