Schools With Poor ELL Scores May Share Common Elements

Schools that report low achievement for English-language learners also report low test scores for white and African-American students, and share characteristics associated with poor performance on standardized tests, according to a study released today by the Pew Hispanic Center.

Those characteristics include high pupil-teacher ratios, large enrollments, and high levels of students who are eligible for free and reduced-priced lunches, a reflection of families’ socioeconomic backgrounds.

But the study by Richard Fry, a senior research associate at the Washington-based center, also found that when English-learners are not isolated in low-achieving schools, the gap between their test scores and those of...