Students who started school as English learners but later shed that designation by becoming proficient in the language are more likely than their classmates to graduate from high school and enroll in college, all after posting superior grade point averages in school.
That’s according to a new study from researchers at the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research that adds to a growing body of research finding that former English learners tend to outperform their peers who never received English language services. But the study, which examines the performance of English learners and former English learners in Chicago schools, also makes the case for more detailed data collection on the nation’s growing English-learner student population.
States and school districts typically have to report data on English learners’ performance on state assessments as well as for some former English learners. But detailed and disaggregated data on other metrics that paint a fuller picture of student performance—such as grade point averages and college enrollment—are often absent.
That leaves educators and researchers to wonder, how are English learners doing and what’s working for this growing and diverse population?
The new University of Chicago study illustrates how when researchers break different kinds of data down, educators are more likely to get a nuanced take on how well English learners fare in high school and college, informing them on what additional support or services they may need.
Nationally, English learners’ high school graduation rates have ticked up in recent years but still lag behind other students’, federal data show.
In Chicago’s schools, English learners’ graduation rates also lag behind the district average, yet former English learners’ graduation rates exceed those of both students who never received English-learner services and the district average, according to the study published Nov. 20.
The researchers looked at students who entered 9th grade for the first time in the falls of 2014, 2015, and 2016. They reviewed data including cumulative GPAs, high school graduation rates, SAT scores, and immediate enrollment rates at any two- and four-year college.
They sought to add nuance to discussions around English learners’ high school and college experiences by breaking down data into four main groups: long-term English learners without individualized education programs, long-term English learners with IEPs, late-arriving English learners who have been in the district for less than six years, and former English learners.
Among the key findings: Former English learners outperformed the rest of their peers on several measures, including students who never received English-learner services; and long-term English learners reported the lowest performance across the metrics the researchers examined.
Late-arriving English learners also posted higher GPAs and graduation rates than long-term English learners.
“It suggests that long-term English learners are a group that really demands special attention or more attention,” said Marisa de la Torre, the managing director and a senior research associate at the UChicago consortium and the lead researcher on the study.
Schools miss out when not monitoring former English learners
States and districts that receive federal Title III funds to cover supplemental services for English learners are required to report data on former English learners’ performance on state English/language arts, math, and science assessments for up to four years after the students exit out of English-learner services, said Andrea Boyle, a senior researcher at the American Institutes for Research specializing in education policy and practices for English learners, among other areas.
But researchers, including Boyle and de la Torre, note that to more effectively assess how well schools have served these students and what additional academic needs they may still have, schools and states should monitor former English learners throughout their K-12 education, rather than stopping four years after the end of their supplemental services.
“In order to really understand how our English-learner services and policies are working, being able to sort of track those students over the longer term and being able to distinguish them from students who have never received English-learner services could be really important,” Boyle said.
It’s why de la Torre and her co-authors included former-English-learner data in their study on Chicago schools. The district itself doesn’t track former English learners over their entire K-12 schooling experience, but the study authors were able to disaggregate the data themselves.
Data disaggregation prompts questions about long-term English learners
The study also found something other researchers have noted for years: Students who continue receiving supplemental English-language instruction through much of their academic career without being deemed proficient in English tend to have lower GPAs, SAT scores, and high school graduation rates than their peers.
“Maybe they need support beyond what is needed to pass the [English-language] proficiency test, for example. Maybe now we need to start thinking, is it that they are not coming to class? Is it that they are not passing their classes? Do they have any other barriers to performing well in school?” de la Torre said.
