Text

theses

Throughout the past several decades the Emergent Bilingual (EB) population has steadily increased in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2018). This population encounters many difficulties upon entering the US educational system. For example, many EBs experience poverty and other stresses related to migration, which can substantially increase their risk for mental illnesses and poor academic performance (Perreira & Ornelas, 2011). In addition, EBs are likely to attend highly impoverished and under resourced schools, further contributing to the risk of low academic achievement (Aud et al., 2010). Therefore, this research aimed to better understand the school experience of EBs in an attempt to identify how this population can be better supported in our educational system. Study 1 addressed gaps in knowledge in its examination of student and teacher survey data from three low income, urban schools (N = 1180). Study 2 drew on qualitative data from five focus groups to understand the differences in the school experience of current vs. exited-EBs, those students who have exited their EB programing due to their deemed proficiency in English. Specifically, Study 1 analyzed EBs vs. non-EBs, and current vs. exited-EBs’ social-emotional competencies, overall social-emotional competency, self-reported negative mental health, student perceptions of the school climate, and academic achievement. Results from the multiple regression analyses showed no significant differences between EBs and non-EBs. However, there were differences between current and exited-EBs with regard to teacher-reported socio-emotional competency and self-reported negative mental health. Teachers perceived exited-EBs as having greater social-emotional competencies than their current-EB peers. However, a post-hoc multiple regression analysis indicated that EB status and academic achievement are intertwined, suggesting that academic achievement may better explain teacher-reported social-emotional competency. Study 1 also found that exited-EBs’ self-reported lower rates of negative mental health than current-EBs. Lastly, this study found a trend hinting that exited-EBs have worse perceptions of school climate, compared to their current-EB peers. In Study 2, the qualitative analysis of focus groups showed that the EB population may be likely to encounter negative experiences due to their EB status, specifically in terms of negative peer interactions.

ETD_10670

Psy.D.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-6qfm-xc96

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.