How Do Changes in the Language of Instruction and Classroom Composition Affect English Learners?

• In Event: 26.048 - Which Policies and Practices Promote Improved Outcomes for English Learners? Evidence From Large-Scale Quantitative Studies

Abstract

According to the U.S. Census, about 18 percent of the students in the U.S. are linguistic minority students. These students face a dual challenge of mastering English while acquiring academic skills and knowledge. The landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lau v. Nichols addressed issues of equal educational opportunity by requiring schools to provide services to overcome the language barriers of these students. Those services often take the form of an “English-immersion” approach, in which students receive all instruction in English, or employ a “bilingual model”, where students are initially taught in some combination of English and their native language and eventually transfer to English-only classrooms. The question of which model of instruction is more “effective” has been notoriously difficult to answer and remains an open and controversial debate.

The difficulties that researchers typically face when evaluate the different educational models relate to the fact that students who enroll in bilingual education are different in many observable and unobservable ways. For example, ELs with low English proficiency are more likely to be in bilingual programs. In addition, parents of students in bilingual classes, on average, have lower socioeconomic status and have been in the U.S. for a shorter period of time. Several studies have explored the effectiveness of these programs, taking into account the selection problem, without reaching a consensus. For example, Matsudaira (2005) and Chin, Daysal, and Imberman (2013), using regression discontinuity designs, find negligible differences in the achievement of students enrolled in the different programs. In addition, Slavin, Madden, and Calderon (2011) conduct a randomized controlled trial and find that by the end of 4th grade there were no significant differences in academic achievement for students assigned to bilingual education versus English immersion. In this paper we take into account the findings of these aforementioned studies and use the passage of Proposition 227 as a natural experiment to determine the effect of the different educational programs on the academic achievement of students.

After the passage of Proposition 227, which called for all instruction to be conducted in English, bilingual education stopped being the default instructional program for ELs. This not only changed the language of instruction, but also resulted in an increase in the exposure of ELs to EOs in the classroom. In this study we analyze how this change in classroom composition along with the change in the language of instruction affected the academic achievement of all students. Using data from the largest school district in California, we find a significant negative impact of the switch from bilingual to English immersion on achievement scores for ELs in grades 4-5. This negative effect, however, is somewhat offset when ELs are placed in a classroom with more native English speakers. We find no significant effect of the program change for ELs in earlier grades. We also find a small and significant positive effect for native English speakers in grades 4-5 as a result of the ban.

Authors

• Cuky Perez, University of Washington

• Alec Kennedy, University of Washington