DOCUMiNT RESUME

ED 231 914 UD 022 867 AUTHOR Shore, Rima; And Others TITLE Clara Barton High School. Bilingual Project. O.E.E. EvaluatiOn Report, 1981-1982. INSTITUTION City Board of Education, , N.Y. Office of Educational Evaluation. PUB DATE Feb 83 NOTE 42p. 1PUB TYPE Reports - Evaluative/Feasibility (142)

EDRS PRICE MFO1/PCO2 Plus Postagee. DESCRIPTORS Allied Health Occupations Education; *Bilingual Education Programs; *English-(Second Language); High Schools; Hispanic Americans; *Limited English Speaking; Mathematics; Program'Effectivenessl Program Evaluation; Science Instruction; Second Language Instruction; Social Studies; Spanish Speaking; *Tutorial. Programs; Vocational Education IDENTIFIERS * Board of Education ABSTRACT The report evaluates theapilingUal-Bicultural Project conducted in 1981-82 at Clara Barton HigE School, in Brooklyn, New York, for 50 Spanish speaking students with limited English proficiency (LEP). The project was debigned to provide tutorial support to LEP students and to enable them,to be placed in one of the Amore challenging health profession majors offered at the school. Additional help was provided to students in both English and Spanish language achievement, and in content area courses. The'project also sought to help students to organize their studies, develop learning skills, and bolster their motivation to remain in schOol despite financial, cultural, and academic predgures. Quantitative analysis of student achievement among partitipahts indicates that: (1) Spanish speaking students mastered 1.7 objectilies per month of instruction; (2) program students demonstrated gains in pre- and posttest reading scores; (3) students in grades 10 and 12 demonstratedgains in ,mathematics performance; and (4) program students had better attendance 'rates than the school aVerage. The report-offers several recommendations regarding data collection and recordkeeping, scheduling of tutorial sessions, assessment of program impact, additional second language assistance, more challenging native language classes, formation of a bilingual club, and modification of the wogram objective concerning tha Criterion Referenced English Syntax Tebst (CREST). (A05)

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Points of view or opinions mated in thisdecu O.E.E. Evaluation Report ment do not necessarily represent official NIE position or pohcy February, 1983 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS' MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY micaget?F r-4 CT TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES r-4 INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Pr\

cm CLARA BARTON HIGH SCHOOL Principal: Ms. Sylvia Ballatt LAJ BILINGUAL PROJECT Project Director: 1981-1982 Mr. Thomas J. Lenihan

O.E.E.Bi.lingual Education Evaluation UMit

Ruddie A. Irizarry, Manager Judith A. Torres, Evaluation Specialist

Prepared by: 00

Rima Shore . Ignazio Puccio Debo6ah Inman 0

With the Assistance of:

Armando Cotayo Margaret H. Scorza

New York City Public Schools Office of Educational Evaluation Richard Guttenberg, Director

2 .ROARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITYOF 'NEW YORK

JOSEPH G. BARKAN President

AMELIA ASHE Vice-President

STEPHEN R. FRANSE IRENE IMPELLIZZERI MARJORIE A. LEWIS MIGUEL O. MARTINEZ JAMES F. REGAN Members

FRANK J. MACCHIAROLA Chancellor

RICHARD F. HALVEWN THOMAS K. MINTER Deputy Chancellor Deputy Chancellor for Instruction

3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

4 The production of this report, as of all O.E.E. Bilingual Educa-

tion Evaluation Unit reports, is the result of a ctoperative effort of

permanent staff and consultants. Dennis Joyce has speht many hours creating,

correcting, and maintaining 'data files. In addition, he has trained and

helped others in numerous ways. Joseph Rivera has spent many hours pro-

ducing, correcting, duplicating, and dissemin'atinq reports. Without

their able 'and faithful participation the unit could not have handled

such a large volume of.work and still produced quality evaluation reports.

1 A SUMMARY'OF THE EVALUATION FOR THE BILINGUAL PROJECT CLARA BARTON HIGH SCHOOL 1981-1982

Thi program, in its first year of funding,provided tutorial services to_a target group of fiftySpanish-speaking students of limited English prof ciency (LEP) in grades nine throughtwelve. More than half of the prog am students were born in thecontinental ; others were born IM PuertO Rico and theDominican Republic, as well as other- Centrql an4 South American countries.Jhe schobl is not zoned, but selects appliaat Jrom any part of the city who want to prepare for oneof nine, health p ofessions, and is organized as a "mini-college." Of the fifty program !students, 45 came from communitiesin Brooklyn. Although program studenti v.aried in English-language proficiency, ability in SpanisKlu and overall academic preparedness,. all took full programsof academic, vocatIOnal, and mandated courses in the mainstream.

The major goal of the program was to providetutorial support to/LEP students, thus enabling them to be placed in one of the more challenging health profession majors. (No formal E.S.L. instruction was aVailable during 1981-1982 because the E.S.L. teacherwho taught the course /the previous year was on sabbatical.) In addition to helping students progress in both English- andSpanish-language achievement and content- area courses, the program soughtto instill confidence and to help students organize their studies and developlearning skills. The program also hoped to offer students a unit withinthe school with which to identify in an effort to bolster their motivationto remain in school despite financial pressures, culturaladjustments, and possible limita- tion& in the education they received in the native country.

The project received Title VII fundingfor two full-time staff positions: the project director responsible for programimplementation and a paraprofessional who handledclerical tasks`and record-keeping. Both staff members tutored students on anindividual basis during lunch difficult to document, periods. Actual services received by students were however, since the project had notMaintained a log of students who sought or received services. Supportive serviced to program students included tax-levy services from theschool's'grade advisors and guidance counselors and informal advice and encouragementfrom program staff. Both program staff members attendeduniversity courses; no other staff development activities were reported. Parents of program students participated in a Parents Bilingual AdvisoryCodncil. Parental partici- pation was limited, however, since theschool is not neighborhood-based. Although it was difficult to assess theimpact of the program's tutorial services, the potential impact onthe school's admissions and programming policies may be significant. An increase in the number of Spanish-dominant students was expected,in addition to the placement of program students in the moredemanding majors.

Students were assessed inEnglish-language development (Criterion Referenced English Syntax Test [CREST]); reading inEnglish (New,York City Reading Test); mathemUics performance(P.S.E.N.); and attendance (schooT and program records).1Quantitativeanalysis of student Achievement indicates that: mastered - -Ingeneral, Spanish-speaking program students 1.7 objectives per month of instruction on theCREST.

--Overall, program studentsdeMonstrated large,gains from the pre- to the, post-test on the NewYork City Reading Test (P.S.E.N.).

--Tenth- and eleventh-grade studentsdemonstrated statistically and educationally significant gains onthe P.S.E.N. The gains made by twelfth-grade students,although not quite statistically significant, were veryeducationally significant.

--The attendance percentage of programstudents was 6.7 percentage points higher than theattendance percentage of the school.

The following reconmendations wereaimed at increasing the

overall effectiveness ofthe program:

--Record-keeping procedUres should beimplemented and maintained on a daily basis to documentthe number of students served by the prograM, the frequency oftutorial sessions, subject areas covered, language(s)used, and materials used. Any extra work done by students should also bemaintained in folders in order to better monitorindividual progress;

--tudent achievement data must berecorded and submitted;

.--Entry and exit criteria for the programshould be clearly spelled out and applied. In addition, parents.should be informed of these criteria;

-iv- --Problems with the scheduling of tutorialsessions should be addressed. Since the lunch-hour approqich itproblematic, the possibility of schedulingsessione during resource 4 periods should be gursued iffeasible;

--The impact of the progran onthe admissions and placement of Spanishdominant students should beassessed in an attempt to evaluate whether programstudents have been placed in more challenging majors than they might havebeen without Title VII services;

--Since students' LAB scores indicatethe need for more than intermittent E.S.L. assistance, the programdirector might discuss the need for additional E.S.L.instruction with the ,principal and other school administrators;

--Since program students,indicatedthat their Spanish-language clasaes were hot sufficientlychallenging for native speakers, the project director might work withthe assistant principal responsible for foreign-languageinstruction to review the suitability of Spanish-language coursesfor program students;

--The bilingual programmight serve as abase for a Hispanic club might or bilingual club. The introduction of such a help to alleviate the lack ofcohesion experienced by Hispanic students at Clara Barton.

--The program objective concerningthe CREST test be modified in terms of observed studentperformance and the citywide E.S.L. objective. TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

I. CONTEXT

ConFnity Setting 1 School Setting 1

II. STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS 4

School Population 4 Program Students 5

III. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 11

Goals 11 Organization 12 Needs,Assessment 13 Scheduling 13 Tutorial Services 14 Non-Instructional ActiVities 15 Potential Impact of the Program 16

19 IV. FINDINGS

Assessment Procedures, Instruments, andFindings 19 27 "410f, Summary of Findings

V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 28

Conclusions 28 Recommendations C 29

-vi- LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

PAGE

4' Figure 1: Distribution of Program Students' Scores on English Language Assessment Battery. 10

ttudents by Country . Table 1: Number and Percentages of 6 of Birth.

by sex Table 2: Number and Percentages of Students and grade.

8 Table 3: Number of Students by, Age and Grade.

Performance of Students Tested onthe

24' Table 5: English Reading Achievement. f 25 Table 6: Mathematics Achievement. Between Attendance Table 7: Significance of the Difference Percentage of Program Students andthe,Attendance Percentage of the School. 26 CLARA BARTON HIGH SCHOOL

BILINGUAL PROGRAM

Location: 901 Classon Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11225

Year of Operation: 1981-82, First year of funding

Target Language: Spanish

Number of Participants: 50

Principal: Ms. Sylvia Ballatt

Project Director: Mr. Thomas J. Lenihan .41

I. CONTEXT

COMMUNITY SETTING

Clara Barton High School for Health Professions stands among the

cultural facilities clustered near Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza. It faces

the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, aferi minutes walk from the

and the . Prospect Heights High Sch 01, the area's

zoned school, is across the street.

This area of Brooklyn divides Park Slope and Prospect Heights

from Crown Heights. Residents of the school's immediate vicinity are primarily

black; a large West Indian population lives along , near

Clara Barton. Hassidic Jews, who live in Crown Heights, are represented

among the school's faculty, but not its student body. There is not a strong

Hispanic presence in this area.

SCHOOL SETTING

Built in 1939 in art deco style, Clara Barton High School welcomes

visitors into an impressive lobby, with a cathedral ceiling and amarble 1() staircase leading to the principal's office. The school's design reflect*

its original aim: to prepare young women for homemaking careers.Its class-

rooms, planned for 25 or fewer students, arecrowded when utilized by curlent

classes of between 32 and 51 students. The rooms are furnished withfronti

alcoves designed for demonstration lessons, andwith ample pantry space.

nine-million dollar renovation is sooh to be undertaken tomodernize some

of its facilities and to make thebuilding accessible to handicapped students,

staff, and visitors.

i The school is not zoned, but selects applicantsfrom any parii of

the city who want to prepare for one ofnine health occupations: bio-Medical

/ Pscience, dental assisting, dentallab assisting, health assisting, an

services, medical assisting, rehabilitativeservices, medicalofficeI, assist-

ing, and practical nursing. Describing the school's goals, the principal

noted that the number of minority entrantsinto the several health fields optometry, and -- medicine,pharmacology, dentistry', veterinary medicine,

osteopathy -- has recently decreaseddespite recruitment and 'education at

school level the college level. Clara Barton begins sooner -- at the high

-- to preparestudents for further education in thehealth professions, or

to secure jobs on graduation. The most rigorous of its programs leads to

state certification as alicensed practical nurse.

The school is organized as a"mini-college." Students in grades

nine and ten take, in addition to,mandated and academic classes, courses

which provide overviews of thehealth occupations. By the end of the tenth

grade, each student selects a major. Because some majors are more demanding

accord- than others, grade advisors worktoward matching students with majors

-2- ing to interest and ability, giving the first choice wheneverpossible.

The major governs programming for the final two years, sincerequirements

have been established for each major. _To meet theserequirements, students

take heavy programs: most take six classes plus physical education and

lunch. While teachers work either from period one to eight or two tOnine,

about.a quarter of the student body attends schoolfrom period one to nine;

practical nursing students are scheduledfor ten periods per day.

The school stresses th'e sciences. A biology courTe viS'ited hy

the evaluator, described as a "masterylearning" course, appeared to be

more challenging than similarclasses visited at other schools. The school

tries, in its humanities courses, to integrateinformation about the health

sciences. An English class was reading the novel WomanDoctor by Florence

Haseltine, M.D., and Yvonne Yaw. Ne school's Curriculum also provides

opportunities for practical experiences. Students in the dental assisting

program, for example, workwith dentists in a functioningclinic:and dental

i'ab assisting majors make false teeth. Other students do volunteer work

in nearby hospitals.

The schooll.syclassrooms and corridors appear to be quietand orderly.

The building betrays no signs of vandalism. Barton's administration maintains

a discipline unusual inpublic schools: the school day begins and ends:Ath

off1c1%1 classes, and students' coails arelocked up during the day; students

sit at assigned seats in thecafeteria. Disruptions by students are'said

to be rare; generally the threatof transfer to a student's zoned schoolis

sufficient to improve behavior.

-3- 4 II. STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS

000LPOPULATION--

At one time a school for girls, Clara_Barton is now co-educationai, but continues to enroll 90 percent female and 10 percent male students. The school's student body of 2,527 is almost entirely minority students, of whom

90 percent qualify for free lunCh benefits. The ethnic breakdown oi the school's population in 1981782,was:

American Indian or Alaskan Native ' 3 Asian or Pacific Islander 31 Hispanic 475 White, non-Hispanic 15 Black, non-Hispanic. 2003

Among Clara Barton's black students are many from the West Indies who live near the school. Hispanic students constitw4ed about 19 percent ofthe school's enrollment; this figure is slightly lower than the percentage of

Hispanic students in all Brooklyn highschools.* The assistant principal for guidance mentioned that Hispanic students might account for a larger proportion of Barton students if not for two factors,: first, that Hispanic youngsters, especially girls, tend to go to local schools rather than a non- zoned school out of the neighborhood; and that the school's rigorous require- ments and high academic standards have precluded the admission of students of limited English proficiency (LEP). (See Chapter III.)

Attendance at Clara Barton is,generally high. On the day of the site visit, the posted figure -- 85 percent -- was posted with theheading,

"bad news."

The New York City Board of Education's Annual School Census - Pupil Ethnic Composition Report (October 1980) stated that 21.6 percent of Brooklyn's high school students/were Hispanic...4_ 13 :PROGRAM STUDENTS

Overview

While the program originally proposed to servetS students, that

numberwas reduced when one paraprofessional was cutfrom the budget. The

program got underway with 45 studentsin the fall; the number increased to

62 mid-year, and was 50 in May. Of the fifty program students, 45 came

from communities in Brooklyn:Windsor Terrace, Crown Heights, and Cast

New York. Four students came from Manhattan, and one fromQueens. More

than half were born in thecontinental United States; others were born in

Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador,Colombia, Panama, Guatemala,

and El Salvador. Table I presents the number and percentages ofstudents

by countries of birth.

Of the fifty program students, eight were male --approximately

the same ratio as in the school. In the program office, male students

were more'visible thanfemale. Several seemed to stop by the office

frequently, either for tutorial help or just to sayhello to the project

students by sex director. (See Tables 2. and 3 for the distribution of

115. and grade and age and grade.) TABLE 1

Number and Percentages of Students by

Country of Birth

Language: Spanfsh

Country of Birth Number Percent

Puerto Rico 6 12 Dominican Republic 5 10 Guatemala 1 2 El Salvador 1 2 Panama 3 6 Colombia 1 2 Ecuador 3 6 Philippines 1 2

, U.S. 28 57

TOTAL 49 100

.More than half of the students in the program are United States- born, speakers of Spanish.

.Foreign-born students were born in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Central and South American countries. TABLE 2

Number and Percentages of Studentsby Sex and Grade

Percent Percent Column Total: Total Percent Grade Male of Female of N of All Students IN Grade N Grade

100 8 16.3 9 8 t 23 24 77 31 63.3 . 10 7

106 5 10.2 11 5

80 5 10.2 12, 1 20 4 49 100 TOTAL 8 16 41 84 ,

students are female. This .Eighty-four percent of program distribution by sex,reflectsthe school's past curricular for homemaking careers. offerings: courses in preparation

9 and 11 are female. .All students in grades

.Most students are ingrade 10. TABLE 3

Number of Students by Age and Grade

Total Age Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12

4- 14 4

19 15 3 16 , 14 16 1 11 2

5 11 17 3

48 Total 8 30 5 5

for_ the grade. ifote. Shaded boxes indicate expected pge range

.Most program students are 15 yearsof age and in grade 10.

.The majority of students areat the grade level expectedfor their age. Language Proficiency below the twentieth About half the programstudents scored at or Assessment Battery (LAB)* percentile on the Englishversion of the Language the English LAB.) (Figure 1 indicatesthe.distribution of students' scores on half of those forwhom' Most students did better onthe Spanish version:

percentile. Comparing program scores were availablescored above the fiftieth found that those who students' grades with theirLAB scores, the evaluator well academically. Those with scored well in Englishand Spanish were doing well even if theirEaglish high LAB scores in Spanishwere generally doing Engl)sh scores belOw the LAB scores were verylow. Thirteen students with fiftieth'percentile on the twenty-first percentilebut scores above the One student, for Spanish LAB were for the mostpart perforMing well. although'he had scored example, maintained a 90 averagein the honors' track scored in the eighty-fifthpercentile in the fourthpercentile in English; he the Spanish LAB weregenerally in Spanish. Students with low scores on The other group ofstudents failing failing four or fiveof their courses. students with EnglishLAB scores most consistently werethe eight U.S.-born

below the twenty-firstpercentile.

difficulties with biology Students seemed to behaving the greatest enrolled in biology 2, sixhad and world studies. Of 11 program students

failed.

students speak Spanish The program director stated that most program

Most are more fluent inSpanish with friends;cdde-switching is typical. well, but experienceinterfenence than English.Others speak English quite

in.Teading English texts.

-9- FIGURE 1

Distribution of Program Students' Scores

on English LanguageAssessment Battery (N*50)

6-

5-

Percentile_ score

1 . 1 1 1 1 1 1 70 10 20 30 40 50 60

-10- III. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

GOALS

The bilingual progr!m at Clara Bartonoperates in a setting where

LEP students would be expected to encounteracademic problems. Every member' of the faculty oradMiniitration interviewed by the evaluator stressed the demands placed'on Clara Barton students,who take science and health courses in addition to mandated subjects. Except for the Title VII program, there were no supportive services geared tohelp bilingual students compete with language their English-dominant peers. The non-graded English as a second

(E.S.L.) class offered the.previous year wasnot offered in 1981-82; the principal said this was becausethe E.S.L. teacher was onsabb4tical.

'The program was designed to providetutorial support to LEP students

The prograM (those scoring at or below thetwentieth percentile on the LAB).

the director said that in additionto helping with content-area courses, organize their program sought toinstill confidence and to help students

studies and develop learningskills.

The program proposal predicted thatTitle VII services would result

in:

--progress toward proficiencyin English;

--sigmificant gains inSpanish-langUage achievement;

--success in content areascomparable to that of English- doMinant Barton students;

--attendance records comparable tothose of English-dominant Barton students.

2o The proposal also stated that the programwould work toward parental

participation, staff training, andfollow-up services for mainstreamed par-

'ticipants. 4

By offering students aunit within theschool with which to identify,

hoped.' an4 by making staff availablefor advice and encouragement the pro9ram the economic to bo/ster students'motivation to remain in school despite shock, and Strain many experience at home,to reduce the impact of culture received in to compensate for possiblelimitations in the education they N.

the native country.

ORGANIZATION

Program implementation was delayeduntil mid-October. The proposal

notification had been submitted onFebruary 13, 1981, but the official grant At thai time, the Division of arrived from Washington only onoctober 15.

project director's release\fromclassroom re- I, High Schools authorized the

sponsibilities.

The project received fundingfor two full-time staff positions:

S. the project directorresponsible for program implementation, and a para- ,. Both professional who would carry outclerical tasks and record-keeping. during lunch periods. -staff members tutored studentson an individual basis

The project was originally housed onthe first floor,,near, the

allowed students to stop byaft.reating cafeteria. Its convenient locatton

lunch; noise created by the manystudents taking part in adrug-prevention ' glass partition, hampered program, separatedfrom the bilingual office by a

-12- tutoring however, and the prolect was movedto a large', quiet room on the third floor.

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

By the time the program was underwayin October,eligible'students had beenidenthied on the basis of LAB scores and teachersi recommendations.

Preliminary grades were already available, sothat the project dirpctqr could'analyze, subject by subject, students'academic liabilities. Passes were given to officialteachers of eligible students; when students came that they to the office, the projectdirector or paraprofessional explained invited needed extra tutoring. Studefits were issued daily passes and were after they had to come to the programoffice during their lunch pertod,

finished eating, whenever they neededhelp. Parents were apprised of students' participation.

SCHEDULING

Program students take full programs'oif academiC, vocational, and

mandated courses in themainsiream. All participants take Spanish; all other

courses are taught inEnglish.

The program was originally designed tooperate on a,pull-out basis.

hectic schedules However, tutorial sessionsdid not fit easily into the already the school's four of Barton students. Tutoring therefore took place during lunch 40-minute lunch periods. Participating students wo4d typically eat minutes of tutoring. in 15 or 20 minutes, thenvisit the program office for 20 First, Barton students occupy Two factors cut irito tutorialtime, however. the assigned seats in the cafeteriaand are summoned table.by table to forsomeitime. cafeteria line; students sometimescould not get their lunch /Mr -13- cafeteria. Students Secondly, the programoffice was some distance from the time, but these were were issued elevator passesfor the lunch period to save often not honored by theelevator attendants.

-TUTORIAL SERVICES

The project director estimatedthat two or three students came for tutorial help during eachlunch-period; for a total of eight to .ten per

with the eva.luator's observationsduring two day. This number corresponded were difficult days spent at the school. Actual services received by students maintained a log of students to document, however,since the project had not Working'from a list of 50 projectstudents, who sought or,receivedservices. 1. regularity,- 13 sometimes appeared, the director estimatedthat 27 came with some frequently were and 10 rarely askedfor help. Those who came for help most frequently for assistance. tenth graders; of the tenjuniors and seniors, one came "checked in" at The evaluator gained theimpression that several students help and other times just to the office veryoften, sometimes for tutorial tended to ask for andreceivEihelp say hello, andthat the same students said that students -come wheneverthey want to, often. The project director Almost no one comes," he but most often beforetests. P"Before a holiday

mentioned that one student camedaily for three , added. The paraprofessional

subjects. months for help in two .4W

students The project director andparaprofessional often assisted

biology,. In some cases, students with cOrtent-areasubjects, particularjy with their own study aids, forexample, were helped, intutorial sessions, to develop

to make flash cardsof difficult biology.terminology.

-14- When students asked for help inmath, they were sometimes referred

work with to a volunteer tutor, whovisited the schooT on a weekly basis to honor-track students but who helpedbilingual program participants. Otherwise, students could work with eitherstaff member. The project director said that boys tended to work with himWile girls often sought out thefemale paraprofessional for assistance.

When students came for assistancebut had nospecifitiproblems,

student to staff members would offer helpwith English (sometimes asking the him or her), to write a brief composition onthe spot, and reviewing it with

or with study skills.

Both English and.Spanish were usedduring tutorial sessions, de- used for pending on the work being covered. It appeared that Spanish was academic subject informal conversatiOn, whileEnglish was used to talk about that,they generally work inEnglish. matter. The project director said for Students interviewed during thesite visit's_aid that they never came

help with Spanish.

NON-INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES

Parental Participation

The project organized a Parents Bilingual Advisory Council, con-

sisting of seven parents. Two meetings were held: one in May,,1980 to

explain the program, and anotherduring 1981-8Z. It was difficult to enlist,,

and many , parents' participation since theschool is not neighborhood based,

students live some distancefrom Clara Barton. c\

-15-

01, Staff Defelopment

The bilingual staff consisted of twoindividuals: the project director, who holds state and citycertification in Spanish andbilinguals' guidance and has six years ofexperience in.bilingual education; and a para- professional, who holds an A.A. degreeand has four years Of experiencein bilingual education and six years inE.S.L.

Both staff members attendeduniversity courses: the coordinator

education during summer 1982, was taking coursesin guidance and special BrooklCollege and the paraprofessional wasattending education courses at

twice per week during theschool year.

school, No other staff demelopmentactivities, in school or out of

were reported.

Supportive Services advisors In addition totax-levy,services from the school's grade advice and encouragement and guidancecounielors, students received informal students from the program staff. The project director stated that program attendance figures as the school as awhole. He failed to achieve the same Barton hasxsuch a high stated that this wouldbe difficult, since Clara

attendance rate.

POTENTIAL IMPACT OF THE PROGRAM

While it is difficult to assess theimpact of the program's tutorial for guidance and the services, conversationswith the assistant principal impact on the school's grade advisor suggestedthat the program's potential

admission and programmingpolicies may be significant. -16- Impact on Admission Policy

In the absence of supportive services,Clara Barton's administra- 4 tion has been reluctant to admit studentsof limited English 'proficiency,

who might have difficulty with theschool's curriculum. The assistant principal J' .

for guidance suggested that with a tutorial program,the fatuity is more con-' AR

fident about teaching Spanish-dominant students,and bilingual students feel

more secure at Clara Barton. "In the past they didn't feel they had a role

here," he said, citing the Wall Hispanic populationin the school's vicinity,

and the lack of clubs or extracurricularactiVities geared to bilingual predict an increase in the students. He added, "With Title VII support, we

number of Hispanic students at Bartonin the fall of 1982. A number of

students wereadded on this basfs and there would be considerable growth

reflected in the fall 1982 statistics."The percentage of Hispanic students

for the four preceding years were:

1978 21% 1979 19% 1980 20% 1981 19%

Impact on Prosramming

At the end of the tenth grade, studentssubmit first, second, and

third choices for a health professionmajor. A grade advisor then assigns

students tO majors on the basis of bothinterest and ability: the majors,

which vary in terms of academicdifficulty, range from medical officeassist-a

ing, the least demanding, topractical nursing, the most rigorous. 11 4,0151.s. ./.

, ) Th0 grade adviior -stated that in theahsence of supportive services,

! v. ., who was not a native speaker of she ould be reluctant to assign a s,tudent

English to practical nursing,bio-medical sCience, or one of the other more

Amm6-17- 0

uI phallenging majors which require courses in body structure and function, chemistry, and other relatively sophisticated sciencesclasses inaddition to regular academic subjects. However, knowing that one-to-one assistance

is available to LEP students, she is often willing to'allow a student to

elect a more demanding major, one which opens up a more rewarding career

path. She mentioned one student whom she assigned to his first choice,

health assisting, rather than medical office assisting, bectiuse he was in

the Title VII program.

She added that the bilingual program had already affected both

the major requests of students -- who had gained the confidence to set higher

goals, and her final programming decisions. )4hile half of the current upper-

graders were enrolled in medical office asiisting, the least demanding major, - fewer than a fourth of the current tenth graders had been assigned to this

major. Six tenth graders had been assigned to the bio-medical science major,

and one was assigned to practical nursing. IV. FINDINGS

FINDING): ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES,INSTRUMENTS, AND presents the assessment instrumentsand The following section to evaluatestudeht achieve- procedures; and theresults of the testing ment in 1981-1982.

development and growth Students were assessedin English-language

The following are the areasassessed in their mastery ofmathematics.

and the instrumentsused: (Criterion Referenced English as a secondlanguage -- CREST English Syntax Test),Levels I, II, III) Reading Test(P.S.E.N.) Reading in English --New York City Mathematics Test Mathematics performance --New York City (P.S.E.N.)

Attendance -- School andprogram records

The followinganalyses were performed:

readingand mathe- Oh pre/post standardizedtests of English educational significance arereported matics achievementstatistical and

in.Tables 5 and 6,respectively.

application Statistical significance wasdetermined through the

This statisti6lanalysis demdhstrates., of the correlatedt-test model. post-test mean scoresis larger whether the differencetietween pre-test and variation alone; i.e.is statistically than would beexpected by chance

significant. This analysis does not represent an estimate of how students

wotild have performed in the absence of the program. No such estimate

could be made because of the inapplicability of test norms for this

population, and the unavailability of an appropHate comparison group.

Educational significance was determined for each grade level

by calculating an "effect size" based on observed summary statistics

using the procedure recommended by Cohen. An effectsize for the cor- \ related t-test model is an estimate of the difference between pre-test

and post-test means expressed in standard deviation units freed of the

influence of sample size. It became desirOle to establish such an

estimate because substantial differences that do exist frequently fail

to reacK statistical significance if the number of observations for each

unit of statistical analysis is small;Similarly, statistically signifi-

cant differences o'ften are not educationallymeiningful.

Thus, statistical and educational significance permit a more

meaningful appraisal of project outcomes. As a rule of thumb, the follow-

, ing effect size indices are recommended by Cohen as guides to interpreting

educational significance (ES):

a difference of 1/5 = .20 = low ES

a difference of 1/2 = .50 = moderate ES

a difference of 4/5 = .80 = high ES

Jacob Cohen. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (Revised Edition).. New York: Academic Press, 1977 Chapter 2.

-20- language was The instrument used to measuregrowth in English (CREST), which tests mastery the Criterion ReferencedEngliih Syntax Test Material at thebeilinning of.spec)fic syntacticSkills at three levels. broken down into 25objectives and intermediatelevels of the CREST is the verb "to be"(Level I), per level,suCh as present-tense forms of Material at the,advanced (Level II). , or possessiveadjectives and pronouns objectives, such as reflexive level (Level III) isorganized into 15 asked to completefour items for pronouns. At each level, students are sentence frame forwhich the each objective. An item consitts of a from four possibilitieS. students must supply aword or phrase chosen by a student'sability to Mastery of a skillobjective 4s determined correctly. answer at leastthree out of four items

number of This report providesinformation on the average objectives mastered per objectives mastered andthe average number of E.S.L.'instruction (Table 4). month of treatmentby students whoreceived

and reading in 6, Rates of success ofstudents in mathematics who were pre- andpostrtested English are reportedby grade for students the numbersOf students by with the same testlevel. These tables contain post-test, the standard grade, the differencebetween the pre- and and level ofstatistical deviation for each averagescore, the t test,

and educationalsignificance. Comparisons of the attendance rates of program participants with that of the school as a whole are presented in Table 7. This table contains the average rate for the school and for the various.participant groups, the percent differences, values of the z statistic, and its level of statistical significance. Although the z statistic used here is slightly different than that described above, it again indicates the extent to which the observed percentage differences vary from what might be expected by chance. TABLE 4

Criterion Referenced Performance of StudentsTested on the Number of Objectives English Syntax Test(CREST): Average

Mastered by Gradeand Test Level

(E.S.L. Spanish=SpeakingStudents)

LEVEL II

Average Number of Average Objectives Mastered. Gain/ Months of Month N Pre Post 'Gain' Grade Treatment

1.5 8 14.1 23.5 9.4 9 6.1 1.7 13..3 23.6 10.4 10 6.1 2.0 3 8.7 21.0 12.3 11 6.1

12

1.7 39 13.1 23,4 10.2.. TOTAL 6.1

for each level: Level I(25), Note: Number of objectives III (15). LevelII (25), Level

were pre-and post-tested .All of theSpanish-speaking students at LevelII. 1.7 Spanish-speaking programstudents mastered .In general, rate, month of instruction.This was a good objectives per the programcriterion although below thefive objectives set as (see Recommendations). mastered per.monthof instruction, 1.5 objectives were .In grade 9, mastered per monthof instruction, 1.7 objectives were in grade 10, were mastered per(month of instruc- and in grade12, two objectives tion. -23- 32 TABLE 5

English ReadingAchievemenCs

Significance of Mean Total Raw Score Differenes BetweenInitial and Final Test Scores in English ReadingA6hievement of Students with Full Instructional Treatment n the New York City Reading Test by Grade and Test1Level

Pre-Test Post-Test T- Level of Educational Test Standard Standard Mean ICorr. test Significance Significance Level Grade N Mean Deviation Mean Deviation Difference i're/post

0.94 1.78 NS 0.85 9 9 7 49.8 13.5 53.0 13.6 ,3.1

0.65 2.73 0.01 0.73 10 10 22 44.0 7.7 48.6 9.8 4.5

1\) 3.3 0.91 0.68 NS 1.7 -P. 11 11 3 39.0 6.2 42.2 13.7

-.333 0..99 -0.50 NS -.57 12 12 3 50.0 7.9 49.6 7.2

.Tenth-grade students were the onl group to demonstrate a gainwhich was statistically show and educationally significant. The ninth and eleventh grades did, however, educationally significant increases. TABLE 6

Mathematics Achievement

Between Initial Significance of MeanTo6l Raw Score Differences in MathematicsAchievement of Students and Final Test Scores York City with Full InstructionalTreatment on the New Mathematics Test (P.S.E.N.)by Grade

Pre-Test Post-Test Level of Educational Mean Corr. T- Standard Standard Significance Pre/post test Significance Mean Deviation Difference Grade N /Mean Deviation .26 0.778 -0.46 .663 31.14 7.56 -1.00 9 7 32.14 9.17 .68 0.829 2.52 0.02 35.14 6.81 2.04 10 22 33.10 5.67 , 1.41 0.991 13.00 0.006 32.33 8.33 8.67 11 3 23.67 8.08 1.30 -1.00 2.33 0.26 40..00 1.41 7.00 12 2 33.00 2.83

post-tested with this test. .Thirty-four program studentswere pre- and demonstrated gains that werestatistically .Both tenth- andeleventh-grade students and educationallysignificant. ) post-test which, showed a large gainfrom the pre- to the .Twelfth-grade students determined to be of high although not quitestatistically significant, was educational significance.

35< 36 1 1 t

TABLE 7

J

Significance of the Difference Between AttendancePercentage

Percentage of the School of Program Students and the Attendance . . 4

Mean Standard Grade N Percentage Teviation

9 8 90.3 7.9

10 30 94.5 3.7

11 5 87.8 3.1

12 5 94.9 6.3

TOTAL '48 93.1 5.2

Average School-Wide Attendance Percentage: 86.13

Percentage Difference = 6.9 z = 1.34 p = NS ,

.Program students had a 93.1 averageattendance rate.

points) between the attendance .The difference (6.9 percentage percentage of program students(93.1 percent) and the attendance percentage of the school(86.1 percent) is not significant, statistically. low of 87.8 in grade 11 to a .The mean percentage ranged from a high of 94.9 in grade 12.

a,low of 3.1 in grade1110 .The standard deviation ranged from a high of 7.9 ingrade 9. SUMMARY OFFINDINGS

English ReadingAchievement large gains from the Overall, all programstudents demonstrated

City Reading Test. Although the pre- to the post-teston the New York show an increase that was tenth-grade students werethe only group to significant, the ninth and eleventh both statistically andeducationafly

gredes did exhibit educationallysignificant differences.

students mastered 1.7 In general,Spanish-speaking program Criterion ReferencedElglish objectives per monthof instruction on the

Syrktax Test( REST).

Mathematics chievement City Mathematics Test In general, the responseto the New,York Although the tenth- andeleventh-grade were quitegood for all studehts. demonstrate gains that wereboth statis- "students were theonly grades to grade showed a large tically and educationallysignificant, the twelfth highlyeducatiOnally increase from the pre- tothe post-test that was

significant.'

Attendance percentage of Although the differencebetween the attendance percentage of theschool is not sta- program Studentsand the attendance higher for the programstudents. tistically significant,the percentage is

Additional Tests student outcomes inSpanish The project alsoproposed to assess Prueba de Lecture, aswell as student by using theInteramerican Series, La social studies but didnot provide outcomes inmathematics, science, and

data.in these areas.

-27- V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSIONS

Once it became operative in October, 1981,the bilingual program at Clara Barton provided tutorialservicesto Spanish-speaking students.

About half of these students met the eligibilitycriterion specified in the proposal -- that is, the.9 had scored below thetwentieth percentile on the

Language Assessment Battery. The remaining students were recommendedby classroom teachers.

4? Students came for tutoring on a voluntarybasis during their lunch

periods. There was no set schedule, no curriculum,and no clear pattern of document the number of attendance. The program did not maintain records to

students served, the frequency ofservices, subject areas covered, ormaterials,

folders or any other form,for used. Students' work was not available in firm conclusions the evaluator to review. It is therefore difficult to draw It appeared, about the implementation of theprogram:no less its success.

during site visits, that at Least ahandful of students were calling on the the program two full-time staff membersfor help, and that a few looked upon

office as a home base -- a place tocheck in between or after classes. It t whick, 'is Altogether possible thatthe program in this way furnishes sup it can be is not quantifiable. However, in the absence of documentation,

concluded only that two full-timestaff members provided intermittenttutorial regular help to 50 students, of whom halfsought assistance on a somewhat

basis.

The program's major impact may not yetbe felt, however. In the

absence of supportive bilingualservices, the school has been reluctant or -28- were enrolled were often unwilling to admitCEP ttudents. Those students who to relativelylaw-paying jobs placed in the'leastchAllenging major, leading The presence of theTitie VII program - which may not tap theirabilities. policies'may haversutilimpact on these prac ces. Inturn, the, may program's tutorial services. iplace grea demands on the 4k

RECOMMENDATIONS . In order to betterdocument program I. Record-Keeping: ' maintained on adaily basis activiiies, -it is rtcommendedthat records be

to document: ved; - -thenumber of students s

--the frequency of l sessions;

--subject areas covered;

--language used;

--materials used.

students to completeextra work, such as com-, If staff membersask program maintained in'Permanent folders so that positions in English,these might be

attested. individual progressmight be better

cntry and exit criteriashould be 2. Participant Selection: The proposal statedthat modified to reflectexisting programpractice. below the twentieth per- the program would servestudents scoring at or of the program studentsscored centile on the LAB. In fact, about half assistance on these students were offered tutorial above this level. required additionalsupport to function teacher recommendations,as they

effectiveliin Englishlanguage classes.

-29- 4 u 3. Scheduling: The lunch-hour approach to tutoring is prob- lematic,_ because students may not have the opportunity to get the support they need. The project director stated that he had'discussed with the \ principal the possibility of scheduling"program students for resource periods; if plis is feasible, it should be pursued.

4. Impact of the Program on Admissions and Placement: Future evaluations might,document the extent to which Spanish-dominantstudents have been recruited and enrolled at Barton, and might'attempt to gaugewhether program students have indeed beenplaced in more challenging majors.than they might havebeen.w(thoutTitle VII services.

5. English as a Second Language: 'On the basis of many students'

LAB scores, Spanish-dominant students at BartonapPear to need E.S.L.

instruction, which was bffered in 1980-81 but not in 1981-82. As E.S.L. addresses an important need for LEPlottudents, it isrecommended that the

program director discusi this issuewith the principal and other school

administrators to facilitate the provision of E.S.L. instruction.

6. Spanish-Language Instruction: Program students interviewed

by the evaluator stated that their,Spanish-languageclasses were not smfficiently

challenging for native speakers. The project director might work with the

assistant principal reSponsible for foreign-languageinstruction to review

the suitability of Spanish-language offerings for programparticipants.

7. Bilingual Club: tiembers of the guidance staff mentioned lack

of cohesion as one o the problems experienced by Hispanic students atClara

Barton. While thcel school has several,active clubs, including a WestIndian

-30-) 41 the native Club, there seem to be noextracurricular activities oriented to base culture of Hispanic students.The bilingual program might serve as a for a club or for otheractivities.

8. Parental Involvement: The minutes of a May 1980 orientation meeting for pa'rents revealed that someparticipants were confused ,about the services offered by the program totheir children. The program might therefore consider producing an informationsheet or "newsletter" for . and activities, parental distribution whichwould include the program's aims student student eligibility criteria;dates for futare parent meetings, achievement, etc.

9. Evaluation Objectives: The program objective of students is inappropri- mastering five curricularobjectives per month of instruction school E.S.L. ate, as it-far beyond that setfor students in Title I high is recommended that programs (one CRESTobjective.mastered per month). 4t be modified in the future the programobjective concerning the CREST test objective. in terms of observed studentperformance and the citywide E.S.L.

-31- 42