SBIR Phase I: Effective Digital Tool for Spanish to English Language Transfer

This Phase I project will determine the efficacy of cutting-edge digital technologies for language acquisition by non-native English speakers. In particular, the hypothesis that Spanish-speaking students learn more effectively when given native-language educational tools will be tested. As they progress through the study, students will transition from Spanish-only to bilingual or English-only instruction appropriate to their level of attainment, using award-winning digital platforms and learning tools. Research suggests that technologies that leverage native language ability to calibrate achievement are more effective than English-only instruction. However, current methods are not designed to help those who are natively fluent in Spanish transfer their skills to a new language. As a consequence, more than 40% of today's non-native speakers drop out of school. Students who learn English fluently have been shown to excel in all academic areas and, therefore, become fuller participants in American civil society. If successful, this project will enhance an existing educational product (created by a small, minority-owned business and already in use in schools nationwide), and improve the educational opportunities for hundreds of thousands non-native English-speaking students in both language arts and the scientific disciplines core to the National Science Foundation's mission. Existing products in educational software offer limited comprehensible input - basic instruction in non-English languages - and typically do not employ best practices for the transference of Spanish language ability to English learning programs. This project proposes to employ an existing language-acquisition platform, combined with a set of Spanish-language and bilingual language scaffolding tools, to determine the most effective practices for English learning. Researchers will conduct a six-month pilot project in one or several Southern California public school districts, and success will be measured by the Bateria en Español and Woodcock Language Proficiency Tests. The project will leverage this platform to determine the optimal combination of language tools (sentence frames) and the best timeframe for transitioning instruction from Spanish to English (from Level 1 to Level 2 instruction). The project will employ best-practice techniques according to the Shelter Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) and the Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC) standards. Results will be both qualitative and quantitative, and study results will be assessed using standard measures of statistical significance. The research team will be headed by a long-time educator and an educational software developer, and both leads are well qualified to conduct research of this type.