Evaluating an ESL Program: Mixed Methods Research Design
This paper outlines a mixed-methods research design for evaluating the effectiveness of a newly implemented English as a Second Language (ESL) program in a local school district. The study aims to measure English language proficiency gains, overall academic progress, and stakeholder satisfaction among first-grade students. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative approaches, it describes sampling strategies, data-gathering tools — including the Stanford English Language Proficiency Test, Likert Scale surveys, and Chi-Square analysis — and protocols for protecting the privacy of minor participants. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of minimizing bias and maintaining transparency throughout the research process.
- Introduction and Program Background: Context and goals of the ESL program evaluation
- Research Questions and Hypothesis: Rationale for mixed-methods approach and core hypotheses
- Setting, Sample, and Data Gathering: Sampling strategy and two-track data collection plan
- Evaluation Tools and Methodologies: Tests, surveys, Likert Scale, and Chi-Square tools
- Data Presentation: Charts, graphs, and PowerPoint reporting formats
- Privacy Protection and Ethical Considerations: Anonymization and parental consent for minor participants
- Summary: Bias awareness and research integrity conclusions
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What makes this paper effective
- Clearly justifies the use of a mixed-methods approach by explaining what qualitative data (perceptions, satisfaction) and quantitative data (test scores, grades) each contribute to the overall evaluation.
- Grounds methodological choices in cited literature, lending credibility to decisions about sampling, data collection instruments, and analysis techniques.
- Addresses ethical responsibilities explicitly, including a dedicated section on privacy protection for minor participants — a detail often overlooked in student research proposals.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective methodological triangulation: by pairing the Stanford English Language Proficiency Test and Chi-Square analysis with Likert Scale surveys and open-ended interviews, the author shows how quantitative outcomes and qualitative perceptions can reinforce each other. This technique is explained and justified through citations rather than simply asserted, which is a hallmark of graduate-level research writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a conventional research proposal structure: it opens with program context and rationale, moves through research questions and hypothesis, then details setting and sampling, data-gathering procedures, and evaluation instruments. A separate section on data presentation addresses dissemination, while a final section on privacy protection shows awareness of IRB-style considerations. The summary closes by foregrounding researcher reflexivity and the management of bias.
Introduction and Program Background
A local school district has recently implemented a program designed to assist students who are currently in need of English as a Second Language (ESL) training. Many of these ESL students come from countries and cultures in which languages other than English are spoken, placing them at a distinct disadvantage in schools that teach primarily in English — both verbally and in written form. What the school district would like to measure is how effective and beneficial the program has been for the students who have used it. Additional issues the school would like the study to address include the program's impact on English language proficiency, overall student academic progress, and the satisfaction levels of students, teachers, parents, administrators, and other stakeholders.
Research Questions and Hypothesis
The study will be guided by research questions and a hypothesis grounded in the researcher's desire to achieve specific measurements, goals, and objectives. Based on a recent study (Classen, Covic, Idsardi, Sandham, Gildenhuys, & Lemke, 2015), which found an urgent need for a deeper understanding of study results and methodologies, new and creative ways to conduct research are necessary. That study suggests that incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research approaches would likely result in improved findings and analysis. Employing a methodology that draws on both types of data is likely to lead to a comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of the new curriculum, as well as a thorough documentation of overall student academic progress and stakeholder satisfaction.
Devers and Frankel (2000) determined that qualitative research is often used for purposive studies such as the one described here. They observed that most qualitative research takes place in a real-world context very similar to the environment of the local school district involved in this study.
The study also seeks to measure the impact that the curriculum has had on student achievement levels and whether any discernible pattern can be identified following the curriculum's implementation. Such measurements are not qualitative but quantitative, since they involve numerical data rather than perceptions or opinions. As Ingham-Broomfield (2014) notes, quantitative research tests objective theories by examining relationships among variables. Those variables can be manipulated and then reexamined to determine their impact on the subject of inquiry. The subject here is whether the curriculum is having a positive effect on ESL students' grades — specifically, whether scores on the Stanford English Language Proficiency Test are positively influenced by the curriculum, and whether the curriculum is effective overall for first-grade ESL students.
Because the curriculum itself functions as one of the primary variables, introducing it should produce some measurable impact on student test scores and overall grades. Measuring those results is therefore well suited to quantitative analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data will be conducted and discussed at length in order to determine the validity of the hypothesis.
Setting, Sample, and Data Gathering
The setting of the study will be determined by the school district but will most likely take place during normal school hours within ESL classrooms. The sample size will be determined by the number of students enrolled in ESL classes at the initiation of the study. Because the study seeks to identify changes in student grades over a one-year period, the best design includes two random groups of first-grade ESL students. One group will receive the new curriculum; the other will continue with the previous teaching methodology. Each group will be tested before the one-year program begins in order to establish a baseline for comparison.
Since two types of data are being collected — quantitative and qualitative — two different approaches to data collection will be used. Qualitative data will be gathered through surveys, small-group interviews, questionnaires with open-ended questions, and researcher field notes. Quantitative data will be collected using the results of standardized tests, beginning with a baseline assessment at the start of the study and continuing with periodic testing throughout the year. As Vaterlaus and Higginbotham (2009) found, once the research questions have been established, data can be gathered from appropriate sources using the appropriate tools.
Once the data have been collected, analysis using verifiable research methodologies and tools will allow the researcher to identify trends and patterns within the dataset.
Evaluation Tools and Methodologies
The tools required for this study include surveys, questionnaires, and standardized tests. The Stanford English Language Proficiency Test will be administered at the beginning of the school year, periodically throughout the year, and again at the end of the year. Surveys and questionnaires will be distributed at both the beginning and end of the year.
The qualitative component will employ a Likert Scale survey with ranked responses capturing how stakeholders perceive and feel about the curriculum. The Likert Scale is particularly valuable because it quantifies qualitative data in a way that allows perceptions, attitudes, and opinions to be charted and compared. The quantitative component will use a Chi-Square test along with a scattergram to display the data. A scattergram allows the researcher to plot the grades of a wide range of participants in a chart that clusters information in ways that make patterns and trends visually accessible and easy to interpret.
References
Classen, N., Covic, N. M., Idsardi, E. F., Sandham, L. A., Gildenhuys, A., & Lemke, S. (2015). Applying a transdisciplinary mixed methods research design to explore sustainable diets in rural South Africa. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(2), 69–91.
Devers, K. J., & Frankel, R. M. (2000). Study design in qualitative research: Sampling and data collection strategies. Education for Health: Change in Learning and Practice, 13(2), 263–271.
Ingham-Broomfield, R. (2014). A nurse's guide to quantitative research. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32(2), 32–38.
Vaterlaus, J. M., & Higginbotham, B. J. (2009). Qualitative program evaluation methods. The Forum for Family and Consumer Issues. Retrieved December 15, 2015, from https://ncsu.edu/ffci/publications/2011/v16-n1-2011-spring/vaterlaus-higginbotham.php
Wong, G. (2014). Research questions. In V. Wright-St. Clair, D. Reid, S. Shaw, & J. Ramsbotham (Eds.), Evidence-based health practice. Oxford University Press.
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