One in 5 English-learners move so often or so far that their academic careers cannot be tracked, putting them at risk of struggling in school, according to a 15-state analysis by the nonprofit WIDA Consortium.
From the 2009-10 to 2014-15 school years, 20 percent of English-learners in the study cohort either moved to another state, left the country, or dropped out of school altogether, making them almost impossible to track. Among students with individualized education programs, 45 percent were identified as potential long-term English-learners. The same was only true of 10 percent of English-learners who never had IEPs.
