The Gibson research team, along with experts in bilingual/ESL education from American Institutes for Research (AIR), conducted an evaluation of Tyler’s bilingual/ESL program in an effort to identify areas for focused, targeted improvements.
This study included two main components:
- Analysis of the districts’ English Language Learner student data (including assessment scores, language proficiency scores, parent denial rates), including examination of performance over time by various sub-groups of interest (e.g., by grade, by school, by ELL status).
- Examination of the district’s implementation of its bilingual model, and the identification of areas where improvements may have impacts on student outcomes.
Various strengths of Tyler’s programming were identified, and recommendations were made for program improvement, particularly in the areas of program model selection and implementation, as well as collaboration and coordination across departments, strategies for improving identification and placement, and ideas for attracting/developing qualified bilingual staff in needed areas.
Click here to read an article about the program.