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Study: Most ELLs Are in Districts That Fall Short on Federal Goals

Study finds 10 states that met all goals for accountability

Most English-language learners were enrolled in school districts that failed to reach all their accountability goals for such students in the 2008-09 school year, according to a national evaluation

While more than half the districts that receive federal money to support programs for ELLs reported meeting all their academic goals that year, those districts served only 39 percent of the total ELL population. Only 10 states achieved all their accountability goals for English-learners under the No Child Left Behind Act that year.

"It's the most comprehensive report we've seen, and it gives us a very good snapshot in time of both how far states and districts have come to develop and implement the requirements of Title III," said Kathleen Leos, who was the director of the U.S. Department of Education's office of English-language acquisition during President George W. Bush's administration. "But it also tells us how much further they need to go to change the actual achievement...