Date of Conferral

7-3-2025

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Heather Caldwell

Abstract

Third to fifth-grade teachers in a Northern Virginia Title 1 elementary school faced challenges when teaching reading comprehension skills to English language learners (ELLs) which impacted ELLs’ performance on state-mandated tests. Framed by Cummins’s second language acquisition theory, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore third to fifth-grade teachers’ challenges in teaching reading comprehension skills to ELLs and their suggestions for improved training and resources in a Northern Virginia Title 1 elementary school. Two research questions addressed the teachers’ challenges and suggestions for improved training and resources. Semistructured interviews were used to collect qualitative data from nine, third to fifth-grade general education teachers who have ELL students in their classrooms. The data were analyzed through thematic analysis with open coding and four themes were identified: (a) the challenges teachers face in the classroom, (b) the challenges of language barriers and acquisition, (c) teachers’ perspectives on effective and ineffective training and resources, and (d) teachers’ suggestions on targeted training and resources to improve reading comprehension skills pedagogy. The findings indicated that teachers needed more time to teach reading comprehension to ELLs, and wanted more targeted training, therefore, a 3-day professional development program was developed to help teachers acquire the expertise and skills necessary to support ELL students in their classrooms. Positive social change may result from sharing these findings with administration and teachers to integrate useful and effective reading comprehension strategies into the classroom to support ELL student proficiency and reading success.

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