The Transdisciplinary Approaches to Improving Opportunities and Outcomes for English Learners (a.k.a. The Center for the Success of English Learners, CSEL) will undertake a focused program of research aimed at identifying and removing barriers related to school tracking through analysis of administrative and newly collected data using a mixed methods approach.
In addition, the center will develop and test interventions that leverage four transdisciplinary approaches intended to improve instruction for English learners (ELs) in science and social studies.
The transdisciplinary levers include:
- Foregrounding content to build language through content instruction;
- Using activities that are engaging and meaningful to students while involving students in the practices of the discipline;
- Organizing learning in heterogeneous teams (Team-Based Learning, TBL) to promote collaboration, discussion, and social motivation; and
- Making use of formative assessment both to improve teachers’ and students’ understanding of students’ development and to also promote responsive instruction and feedback to students.
The Center’s research is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305C200016 to the University of Houston.
For more, visit the Center’s website at www.cselcenter.org.
