Research Projects
English learners and bilingualism:
Examining programs to improve oral proficiency and achievement in elementary school
2022-Current
In partnership with the Utah State Board of Education, this exploratory project uses Utah state-level data to explore differences in Spanish-speaking English learners' academic achievement outcomes by language program type (i.e., English as a Second Language, Sheltered English Immersion, Two-way bilingual). As one of the first states in the U.S. to systematically offer bilingual instruction (in Spanish and English), Utah is a unique and important context to investigate the implications of long-term exposure to formal Spanish-English bilingual instruction.
Using Utah state-level datasets of English learner achievement and sociodemographic information, I am responsible for analyzing the association between language program type and later reading and math outcomes among English learners from Spanish-speaking homes.
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Research Team:
Dr. Natalia Palacios (University of Virginia), Dr. Natalie Bohlmann (Montana State University-Billings), Dr. Bethany Bell (University of Virginia)
Equity in Virginia’s Public Education System:
Longitudinal Examination Spanning the COVID19 Shutdown ​
2022-Current
In partnership with the Virginia Department of Education, this project aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown. In this equity-focused research partnership, I am responsible for leading longitudinal analyses focused on English language proficiency (WIDA ACCESS) achievement trends of English learners in Virginia. We explore how the overall effect of the pandemic on English learners' English language proficiency outcomes, as well as heterogeneous effects by student characteristics and district reopening plans.
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English Learner Research Team:
Dr. Luke Miller (University of Virginia), Dr. Amy Reynolds (University of Virginia)
Investigating special education representation and achievement gaps by language status
2019-Current
In collaboration with the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA), this project aims to investigate special education (SPED) disproportionality of English learners (ELs)—students who face the double challenge of simultaneously acquiring English and accessing academic content in it—accounting for racial achievement gaps across grades 3-8, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.
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As a research affiliate of the TERA partnership anchored on the intersection of language and special education status, I have been responsible for organizing and analyzing state-wide longitudinal datasets (2009-2019). Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal analytical methods (e.g., risk ratios, adjusted odds ratios, time-discrete survival analysis), I analyze multilingual learners’ representation in special education services to identify potential disproportionality of ELs in special education, which continues to be a contentious issue throughout the U.S. and remains understudied in Tennessee (i.e., a new destination state experiencing unprecedented growth of multilingual learners). Results from this project will provide empirical educational research, policy and practice guidance concerning SPED disproportionality by EL status, which is a timely yet under-studied area.
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Research Team:
Dr. Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez (Vanderbilt University), Dr. Gigi Luk (McGill University), and Adam Rollins (Tennessee Department of Education)
Competency -Based Approaches to Child Health (COACH): Literacy Intervention Team
2019-2022
COACH is a culturally-grounded, multi-level intervention that: 1) provides developmentally appropriate health coaching to preschoolers, 2) targets parent weight loss directly and engages parents as agents of change for their children, and 3) builds capacity of local libraries to offer culturally-sensitive parent-child literacy programming for Spanish-speaking families.
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In this community-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) project, I collaborated on the language-focused control group with Dr. Mancilla-Martinez. The control group of this RCT will provide culturally-grounded early childhood literacy development intervention for Latino parents and children (4 - 6 years of age) in Nashville. During my 3-year collaboration on the team, I was responsible for: 1) adapting the Puente de Cuentos curriculum, a 12-week language development intervention designed for Spanish-speaking families, into the community-based setting in collaboration with local libraries, 2) training the child assessment team and interventionists, 3) designing the 12-week parent workshop geared towards parents of Spanish-English dual language learners, and 4) collaborating with project coordinators to assess language and literacy skills of Spanish-speaking dual language learners.
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Research Team:
PI: William Heerman, MD MPH (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)
Literacy Team: Dr. Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez (Vanderbilt University)
Conceptual vocabulary project
2017-2019
As part of a project funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Development grant to Vanderbilt University, I collaborated on a project (led by Dr. Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez) on longitudinal growth of both receptive and expressive conceptual vocabulary development of Spanish-English dual language learners (DLLs, grades K-4). I was responsible for coordinating data collection efforts, data management, and test administration. Aligned with my broader goal as a researcher, this work focuses on asset-oriented ways to better understand language and literacy skills of DLLs. The team drew various conceptualizations of DLLs' vocabulary knowledge and tracked growth of bilingually-scored conceptual knowledge over a three-year period. In turn, for the field, the analyses found results that contradict deficit-driven views about DLLs’ vocabulary skills and highlight the utility of conceptually-scored vocabulary measures to assess vocabulary development among elementary-age DLLs to more comprehensively account for the linguistic assets they bring to learning.
Researcher-practitioner partnership to promote reading comprehension achievement
2017-2019
As part of a researcher-practitioner partnership with a local Nashville public elementary school, I worked on a team of educational researchers at Vanderbilt University to: (1) understand language and literacy skills of elementary-age students and (2) investigate a potential link between language skills (e.g., English word reading, English receptive vocabulary, short-term working memory) and reading comprehension. I collaborated on and led data collection efforts, including but not limited to research assistant recruitment, training, and test administration. Recent findings (under review) find that English word reading and language comprehension skills as independent robust predictors of reading comprehension for language minoritized learners, with verbal short-term memory showing indirect relationship to reading comprehension.