Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-24-2025
Abstract
By 2043, the United States is projected to become an official “plurality” in which the non-Hispanic White alone population will comprise less than 50% of the nation’s total population (Devine and Ortman, 2014). Schools are reflecting this demographic shift as they are more diverse culturally and racially. Yet the teaching population remains predominantly White middle class females. Teachers need to find ways to engage with all of their students to promote excitement in the classroom to joyfully learn. Reading and writing are central to education and are naturally found in all subject areas to be tied to academic achievement.
This study will explore how interdisciplinary models in high school English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) curriculum can be used to advance the academic achievement of immigrant, refugee, and urban students. The aim of this study is to observe how teachers serving diverse student populations in the Dayton Public Schools are currently understanding and integrating interdisciplinary models in their ELA and ESL curriculum and what actual or potential benefits or disadvantages there are to this integration.
Using the research of scholars in the field including Gloria Ladson-Billings's work on culturally relevant teaching as well as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and bell hooks’s Teaching to Transgress, the study will be grounded in critical pedagogies for education as a tool for freedom and liberatory practices to advance student achievement beyond the classroom.
Keywords
Interdisciplinary, Culturally Relevant Teaching, Teacher Education, English Language Arts Education, TESOL, Urban Education
Disciplines
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Secondary Education
Sponsoring Agency
Berry Summer Thesis Institute
eCommons Citation
Krahe, Elizabeth G., "Interdisciplinary English Language Arts and TESOL Education to Advance Academic Achievement of Immigrant, Refugee, and Urban Students" (2025). Proceedings of the Berry Summer Thesis Institute, 2025. 2.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/uhp_bsti_2025/2
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Secondary Education Commons
Comments
I would like to extend my thanks to the Berry Family Foundation for providing this valuable experience for me, as well as the University of Dayton Honors Program for facilitating the program. Specifically, Dr. Dorian Borbonus for taking the lead on teaching the Research Ethics mini course, with help from Dr. Laura Cotton-Howell on the professional development workshops and various other faculty lectures throughout the summer. I would also like to thank my fellow BSTI peers for their kindness and inspiration. I would like to extend a special thank you to my faculty mentor, Dr. Novea McIntosh, for her endless guidance in research practice within my field and support for my wellbeing this summer. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their support throughout this summer.