Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Haj-Broussard, Michelle Georgette
Author's Email Address	mhajbr1@lsu.edu
URN	etd-0605103-202818
Title	Language, Identity and the Achievement Gap: Comparing Experiences of African-American Students in a French Immersion and a Regular Education Context
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department	Curriculum & Instruction
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Denise Egéa-Kuehne Committee Chair Ann Trousdale Committee Member Charles Teddlie Committee Member Nina Asher Committee Member Paul Hoffman Dean's Representative
Keywords	bilingual education foreign language education
Date of Defense	2003-03-21
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract The Black/White Achievement gap has been a persistent problem in education. Previous research attributed this gap to students' culture (Jenks & Phillips, 1998; Ogbu, 1995a.b) or teachers' expectancy (Rist, 1970). Post-colonial literature suggests that this research itself is oppressive, and that learning is negotiating the "spaces" between students and teachers (Ellsworth, 1997); creating a hybrid "mestiza" space (Anzaldúa, 1987). The openness of immersion to diversity, and its subsequent educational benefits for African-American students (Caldas & Boudreaux, 1999) conforms to this post-colonial perspective. This mixed-methodology study examined both academic achievement and the experiences of Louisiana fourth grade students/teachers in both the regular education and the French immersion contexts. The quantitative phase compared these students' LEAP test scores. The qualitative phase was a cross-case comparison of four classrooms--an extreme class (90% of the school population in poverty) and a typical class (African-Americans of average academic achievement) in each context. Quantitative findings were that while there was a bridging of the achievement gap between the LEAP math scores of African-American immersion students and those of white students in regular education, the gap remained amongst immersion students. The qualitative phase found the regular education classroom was found to be a more fixed and assimilating context than immersion. Further, immersion students had higher collective self-esteems and a more positive view of schooling. Though Typical Immersion appeared to create a hybrid third space, the regular education context in which immersion programs were situated appeared to negatively influence these programs.
Files	Filename       Size       Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)     28.8 Modem   56K Modem   ISDN (64 Kb)   ISDN (128 Kb)   Higher-speed Access    Haj-Broussard_dis.pdf 5.79 Mb 00:26:47 00:13:46 00:12:03 00:06:01 00:00:30