Hurdles Remain High for English-Learners

Ong Vue, a senior at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, Calif., listens in English class. A Hmong refugee, she had no formal schooling until age 15, but her test scores have counted in gauging her school’s accountability status under the No Child Left Behind Act.

—Max Whittaker for Education Week

School sees strong progress, but says credit proves elusive under federal law.

By Mary Ann Zehr

Sacramento

Ong Vue’s very first day of school came when she was 15 and was enrolled in 9th grade at Luther Burbank High School after arriving here as a refugee from Thailand.

The Hmong teenager says her family couldn’t afford to send her to school in Thailand. When she started at Luther Burbank, she spoke Thai and Hmong, but no English.

Four years later, Ms. Vue is a senior at the 1,970-student school and has passed the math section of California’s high school exit exam. She plans to attend community college in the fall, and hopes to become...