Introduction
A review of the 2016-17 California English Language Development Test (CELDT) results for the Napa Valley
Unified School District (NVUSD) was performed to understand the impact of the Digital Early Learning (DEL) program of the Napa County Office of Education.
A side-by-side comparison between DEL and non-DEL participants at each of the five CELDT performance levels (Beginning, Early Intermediate, Intermediate, Early Advanced, and Advanced) was conducted to answer the question:
Are there significant differences between overall CELDT mean scores for DEL and non-DEL participants when accounting for overall CELDT performance level?
Yes. NVUSD DEL and non-DEL and non-DEL kindergarteners were compared at each of the five CELDT levels. Of those who placed at the Beginning level of CELDT performance (about 1/3 of all participants for both groups), there was an extremely statistically significant difference between DEL and non-DEL participants (295 vs 264 scale points, respectively).
What is the potential impact?
DEL participants, on average, require about 30 fewer CELDT scale points to attain the next CELDT performance level (Early Intermediate). This could potentially accelerate reclassification of these students into the Fluent English Proficient category.
These findings (d=0.6) represent a slightly larger than medium effect size.
