Contributions of tracking, literacy skills, and attitudes to science achievement of students with varied English proficiency

This study examined contributions of academic ability tracking, disciplinary attitudes (science anxiety and self-efficacy), and discipline-specific literacy skills (science and academic vocabulary knowledge) to students' science achievement in a sample of 104 Grade 8 students (78% current or former English learners [ELs]) enrolled in high- versus low-track (50/50) classrooms at a Pacific Northwest urban junior high school. The final regression model explained 46% of the variance in students' science reading comprehension scores; 11% of the variance in reading scores was uniquely explained by science vocabulary knowledge, above and beyond anxiety, self-efficacy, and tracking. Similarly, the final regression model explained 41% of the variance in students' end-of-the unit science test scores; 20% of the variance was uniquely attributed to science vocabulary knowledge above and beyond anxiety, self-efficacy, academic vocabulary knowledge, science reading comprehension, and tracking. From a practical perspective, the results suggest that students need more explicit science vocabulary instruction to perform better on reading and achievement tasks, regardless of their track designation. From a policy perspective, current ELs' underrepresentation in higher-track classes calls into question the equity of instruction provided to students. Recommendations to increase ELs' access to academic content are discussed.