Pilot Study Update - Part Deux

Sorry for the delay between posts. It is nearing the end of the Fall semester at William and  Mary, and I am waist deep in two projects. I did complete a project for Intermediate Statistics, but feel like I would feel better retaking the class and moving on to Advanced Stats. Being that I have not taken a Math class in 27 years, it was just difficult to re-grasp some of the concepts. Of course, a solid knowledge of Stats is necessary to conduct any research project (ahem..dissertation) that includes any quantitative data and Uncle Sam only funds quantitative projects.
The other project is my pilot study of the successful methods and pedagogical techniques used by ESL teachers in the classroom. My four interviews provided a treasure trove of useful information and I am looking forward to tonight's class presentation, as well as the completion of my study next week. For today, I wanted to share a bit of that project, basically, the answer to the question, "Why Study This Topic?"

Research Problem

            Classrooms across the United States are becoming more diverse. While a number of cities, such as Miami, Los Angeles, El Paso, and Phoenix have enjoyed a long transition into diversity, some areas of the country are only in the infancy stages of diverse demographics. One such area is the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. While other northern regions in the state enjoy diverse learning communities, the percentages of Hispanic and Asian students in Hampton Roads schools are still low. For example, the most recent demographic of the Newport News school system shows only 9.9% Hispanic students, and 2.9% Asian (2010). By comparison, in the city of Alexandria, these percentages are 30.7 and 5.0, respectively (2010).

 However, the percentages of minority students in the Hampton Roads region are rising and will continue to do so. To continue preparing for this change in demographics, school systems in southeastern Virginia will need to hire more ESL teachers in the near future. Currently, there are very few ESL teachers in the area. An inquiry to one school system with four high schools, seven middle schools and 24 elementary schools elicited a response that there were less than 10 ESL teachers currently employed in the entire system – and only one at the high school level.

At this time, it is not believed that any research has been conducted on the expected growth of Hispanic and Asian students to this region. There is also little evidence of any planning for this shift in demographics at the regional level. The intention is to examine the situation in one school system. By examining a locality with only several teachers, I intend to capture the essence of what is working. These results will be compared to results in a larger study, which will be conducted in a larger school system, probably in Northern Virginia. By identifying the successful methods and techniques which are brought into the classroom by ESL teachers in more diverse regions, the objective as a researcher is to make comparisons to the methods and techniques used by teachers in the Hampton Roads community and determine which ones are working successfully. This information can be presented to school administrators who will be in the position to seek and retain successful ESL teachers over the next several years.