Causal Inference Methods for Studying Instruction Effects on Language Minority Students

How can instruction and English Language Learner (ELL) services be best adapted for language minority students? In early elementary school, language minority students have similar literacy levels to their native English speaking peers, but they fall behind in the middle elementary grades. This occurs at the same time that schools tend to move these students out of ELL programs and into regular classes. This William T. Grant Scholar is conducting an examination of the optimal length of time for students to receive ELL services, and the extent to which the optimal length depends on resource allocation and type of instruction. The Scholar is also investigating how much of an intervention’s effects are the result of its design or the way it was implemented in classrooms.