Multilingual Learners and Elementary Science Achievement: Exploring Trends and Heterogeneity Across Subgroups
Multilingual learners (MLs) represent an increasing proportion of public school students. Although much attention has been given to their academic performance in English language arts and math, less research has addressed their academic performance in science, particularly in elementary school. This...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | AERA Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584241303498 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Multilingual learners (MLs) represent an increasing proportion of public school students. Although much attention has been given to their academic performance in English language arts and math, less research has addressed their academic performance in science, particularly in elementary school. This study leveraged nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of 2010–2011 to document the science test score trajectories of MLs from kindergarten through fifth grade. Using descriptive statistics and regression analyses, our findings document wide variation in elementary science test performance among subgroups of MLs while also documenting the rapid gains this group makes in science performance across the elementary years compared with non-MLs. Our study is among the first to use nationally representative data to examine science learning trajectories of MLs and provides a foundation for policy, practice, and future research aimed at understanding how the linguistic assets of MLs promote science learning. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2332-8584 |