Over the past decade the population of English Language Learners (ELLs) who enter public schools has increased dramatically (Smiley & Salsberry, 2007). Federal mandates and state policy have required that schools meet the needs of these learners and funding has been provided to assist in this endeavor (Office of Civil Rights, 2000).
The Hoover City Schools have partnered with the University of Alabama at Birmingham to develop the Creative Learning Center, a summer enrichment program that provides educational opportunities for students at-risk in the area of reading. One of the growing populations of students who meet the criteria for the program has been students considered English language learners. The purpose of this study was to determine if attending the Creative Learning Center impacted language proficiency of English language learners and impacted these students’ reading self-concepts and their value of reading. Ancillary data were also collected to discover the impact of the Creative Learning Center on students’ performance on reading assessments and on how parents perceive this summer enrichment program.