The population of English learners is growing nationwide, particularly in states and communities that traditionally haven’t had large numbers of immigrants.
At the same time, anti-immigrant rhetoric has hit a fever pitch, with many arguing that providing services to immigrants—including in public schools—is a drain on public resources.
So, does the arrival of English learners in a school district and the resulting need to invest resources in serving them hurt the academic outcomes of U.S.-born, non-English learners? Is the growing English-learner population leading to adverse effects on other students?
No, says a new study published in an American Educational Research Association journal this month.
Umut Ozek, a senior economist at the RAND Corp., and his co-authors reviewed public school student test scores from grades 4-8 in Delaware, where the immigrant population grew exponentially in the last two decades. The researchers wanted to determine what spillover effects occurred when more immigrant students enrolled in local schools in a state without historically established immigrant communities—a “new destination” state.
“At least in the context of Delaware, … we do not find an adverse effect on the educational outcomes of students in host communities, and we even find positive effects for existing English learners, either current or former,” Ozek said.
The findings corroborate past research in states such as California, New York, and Florida that found positive effects on the reading and math scores of U.S.-born, non-English learners as a result of more immigrant students enrolling in their schools.
“[Immigrant students’] unique lives and cultural perspectives contribute to engaging class discussions, and they produce positive academic benefits for all of their peers, English learner and non-English learner alike,” said Alejandra Vázquez Baur, the co-founder and director of the National Newcomer Network, a coalition of educators, researchers, and advocates pushing for equitable education for newcomer students.
The new research arrives at a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric has been omnipresent during the 2024 election cycle.
Most prominently, former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, spread false claims about the growing Haitian immigrant population in Ohio during the Sept. 10 presidential debate. The rumors led to bomb threats that disrupted school in the city of Springfield.
“The fear-mongering around new immigrant students comes from this fear of resource allocation, that when you put resources over here, it doesn’t support our students,” Vázquez Baur said. “It doesn’t help these students. It’s an us versus them attitude around immigrant youth.”
More English learners had either a positive or no impact on peers
Delaware’s immigrant population increased by 65 percent from 2000 to 2010, then grew by 53 percent from 2010 to 2019, according to U.S. Census data. In the last two decades, the number of English learners in Delaware schools grew sevenfold.
New destination states might not have the same established immigrant communities to easily welcome new families, and schools there might not have the same level of infrastructure to support these new students, Ozek said.
As a result, schools have to expand services when new immigrant populations arrive, which some fear detracts from the resources available for the education of existing students.
To review any spillover effects on existing students in the state from the growth in immigrant-student enrollment, Ozek and his co-authors reviewed data covering all Delaware public school students in grades 4-8 enrolled from the 2015-16 to the 2018-19 school years.
They focused on state test scores and any first-year effects from newly enrolled immigrant students to account for situations in which pre-existing non-immigrant families would ultimately leave a school due to the shifting demographics—a phenomenon Ozek and other researchers have recognized in past studies as well.
Any adverse effects would be most pronounced within the first year of new students enrolling, Ozek said, because it’s when immigrant students are in most need of additional resources and support, and when schools scramble to set up or scale up services for them.
They didn’t find any negative effects on the test scores of non-English learners. Instead, they found a positive effect on the English/language arts scores of pre-existing English learners and former English learners as the population of immigrant students grew.
The study did not go into the reasons, though Ozek hypothesizes that schools either invested more resources for English learners as a result of the increased enrollment, or they invested in research-backed instructional strategies in all classrooms that benefit English learners, such as teaching language through academic content.
Work remains in supporting English learners, immigrants
Ozek notes that while the findings out of Delaware are similar to those from other studies, more research based in the South and Midwest—where the English learner population is growing—is still needed.
And though his latest study didn’t look closely at whether resource reallocation happened in Delaware schools enrolling more immigrant students, the fact that no adverse effects were found across the board in part debunks the theory that resource reallocation for immigrant students harms host communities, Ozek added.
While Vázquez Baur has worked with educators across the country who are eager to welcome immigrant students and support them through best practices, such work can’t be left exclusively to the will of empathetic leaders, she said.
Federal law establishes the right to a free, public education regardless of a student’s immigration status, and requires English-language instruction for immigrant youth and English learners.
But more accountability to ensure students are receiving these services is needed, and state and federal leaders can better support schools that are trying to support these students and families, Vázquez Baur said.
