Abstract
Legislation regarding student performance on state and national tests has raised the stakes for school districts
throughout the nation. The mandate for all students to be reading at grade level before leaving the third grade
holds school districts more accountable for their students’ progress. Currently, there are more English language
learners (ELL) in America’s schools than ever before. Statistics show that ELLs perform forty to fifty points
below their native English speaking peers on national achievement tests. Low achieving students often have not
acquired basic literacy skills, which negatively impacts their entire school performance. Research shows that
building sight word recognition could help them read more fluently, which in turn helps comprehension. Many
studies have been conducted in the last two decades using computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in an attempt to
increase English language proficiency in ELLs. Findings regarding the effectiveness of CAI with ELLs have been
mixed or inconclusive. Further, very few studies have been carried out with elementary level ELLs. This study
measures the results of using computer-assisted instruction with early elementary students when developing their
knowledge of sight words.