How State Reclassification Rules Impact Long-Term English Learners

States determine their own criteria for reclassifying English learners—the process by which students shed the English-learner label. Often, these criteria focus primarily on language-proficiency scores.

Experts say reclassification systems must strike a balance between being too demanding, thus keeping students as English learners for an unnecessarily long time, and being too easy, thus exiting students too early before they are fully ready.

Recently, states like Texas and California have changed or are considering updates to these critical systems.

In Texas, where academic performance also counts toward reclassification, the question of whether state criteria help or harm student outcomes becomes more acute. That’s especially true for students who carry the English-learner label for more than five years—students also known as long-term English learners, said Shirley Xu, a postdoctoral researcher at Vanderbilt University.

Reclassification gets harder as students age, with standardized tests becoming more difficult. In a study published in the Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis journal in July, Xu and a team of researchers looked at what happens to students who exit English-learner status in 8th grade versus those who retain the label upon entering high school. The researchers wanted to see what effect, if any, Texas’s academic reclassification criteria had on these students’ access to advanced courses, their overall academic performance, and their graduation rates.

In analyzing data of English learners across the state from school years 2012-13 to 2016-17, the researchers found varied results.

Students who exited English-learner status right before entering high school were more likely to have access to advanced courses than peers who entered high school still as English learners. However, reclassified students saw a decline in their academic performance following reclassification. And those who exited English-learner status in 8th grade were also less likely to graduate on time than peers who remained English learners.

“We would love to be able to say whether using academic criteria [in reclassification] is definitively a barrier or if it’s a protective measure keeping students until they’re ready to really succeed in the mainstream classroom. But it’s sort of a little bit mixed,” Xu said.

Reclassification systems carry implications for schools

Xu and fellow researchers looked at student access to advanced courses, such as the International Baccalaureate or the College Board’s Advanced Placement program, because these courses are predictive of students pursuing postsecondary education.

They found that students who reclassified in 8^th grade were more likely to enroll in such courses than peers who remained as English learners, leading Xu to wonder what schools could do to expand access to advanced courses for all students regardless of English-learner status.

After all, Xu, a former English-as-a-second-language teacher, found that English learners who carried the label into high school often had high language proficiency, yet remained in the learner status due to their academic scores.

Though Xu expected students who reclassified in 8^th grade to excel in mainstream high school classrooms, they often performed somewhat worse than peers who remained English learners, especially in math courses. The reclassified students were also less likely to graduate by the spring of their senior year.

Xu wonders whether high school coursework for English learners uses more lenient grading policies or is less rigorous and whether labeled students receive better support and attention than students who enter high school without such long-standing assistance.

She added that the high school outcomes of students reclassifying in 8^th grade pose the question of how well schools in Texas continue to monitor students following reclassification to see if they require any interventions.

In California, legislation is underway to address this monitoring issue.

Changes to reclassification criteria matter

Reclassification criteria in the Golden State consist of language-proficiency scores, teacher evaluations, parent consultations, and meeting basic academic skills.

Legislators are reviewing a bill, co-sponsored by the advocacy coalition Californians Together, to standardize the reclassification process and make it less subjective. The bill would also establish a system for monitoring reclassified students, said Jeanette Gomez, the associate director of policy for Californians Together.

“It’s incredibly important to continue to reassess how students are doing in a timely manner,” Gomez said of monitoring reclassified students.

The hope in California is that with an updated reclassification system, students demonstrating English-language proficiency may reclassify and may gain access to a well-rounded course schedule including advanced courses and electives.

In states such as Michigan, automating the reclassification process helped increase reclassification rates after research revealed that subjective criteria were keeping students in the English-learner category.

In Texas, students must get a certain score in speaking, listening, and writing on the language-proficiency test, a certain reading score on the state standardized test that all students take, and a teacher evaluation. Parental consultation is no longer required for the upcoming school year if a student has met other criteria. The Texas education agency declined to comment in detail about the change.

Xu’s study shows how, in general, more attention is needed to how students are supported academically regardless of when and whether they reclassify.

“This label itself comes with both positives and negatives. It can have stigma. It can limit opportunity, but it can also provide support, provide services,” Xu said. “It really comes down to are we supporting them enough. Are we making sure they’re not losing out on experiences, regardless of the label.”