The influence of foreign language learning during early childhood on standardized test scores

Increasing standardized test scores in reading and math is of high importance to the California Department of Education to meet requirements mandated by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act of 2001. More research is needed to understand the best ways to improve tests scores to meet concerns of the NCLB act. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the influence of two-way language immersion programs on standardized test scores. The theoretical foundations guiding the study included Vygotsky and Chomsky's theories of language development. Research questions addressed the gap in past research by asking the extent to which there are differences between two-way language immersion programs and traditional schools (independent variable) in Title III funding and different models of instruction (90:10 and 50:50) on standardized test scores in reading and math (dependent variable) from 2nd to 3rd grade. This quantitative study utilized a preexperimental static group comparison design. The sample included students from 76 schools in a western U.S. state that offered two-way language immersion programs. Data were retrieved from the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) website. A repeated measures factorial analysis of variance was utilized to analyze the data. The findings showed an increase on reading test scores for two-way language immersion programs compared to traditional schools from 2 nd to 3rd grade. This study promotes positive social change by providing insight into ways in which language immersion programs enable children in low performing schools improve literacy test results.