Working in Partnership to Understand English Learner Classification’s Intended and Unintended Consequences

• In Event: Collaboration to Improve Educational Opportunities for English Learners in the United States

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines the role of possible mechanisms through which classification as an English learner may negatively impact students. Prior research has shown that classification as an English learner can have a negative effect on students’ academic trajectories (Callahan, Wilkinson, & Muller, 2008, 2010). Ethnographic work has identified several possible mechanisms which the current study examines using quasi-experimental methods. The mechanisms explored include linguistic isolation, access to core content, and allocation of resources. The study emerges out of a four-year partnership between a university and a large, urban California school district. The study highlights the benefits of research-practice partnerships in identifying and answering key problems of practice.

Theoretical Framework: Policies regarding identification, classification, and service provision for students learning English are designed to support the dual academic and linguistic needs of this group of students. Yet a growing body of evidence suggests that these policies often have unintended negative consequences for students. This paper explores this urgent policy paradox, drawing on prior theory on segmented assimilation (Portes & Zhou, 1993) and educational stratification (Oakes, 2005).
Data: Using longitudinal data from 2000-2012 the paper tracks eleven cohorts of students in one large urban school district in California. The sample analyzed in this study includes all language minority students including English learners (ELs), reclassified English learners (RFEPs), and initially fluent English proficient language minority students (IFEPs). The total sample size is roughly 22,000 with about 2,000 students per cohort. The paper also draws on data collected from 20 in-depth interviews with school administrators and district leaders.
Methods: Exploiting measurement error in language testing, the paper uses a binding score fuzzy regression discontinuity design to compare class composition, course-taking, test-taking, and resource allocation outcomes between students just above and those just below the cut scores for initial classification in school as an English learner or an IFEP student (Reardon & Robinson, 2012; Robinson, 2011). This method allows for the comparison of treatment and control groups that are identical in terms of English language proficiency and other characteristics but vary randomly in terms of initial assignment to EL or IFEP status.
Results: Analyses show that, among incoming language minority students with relatively high English proficiency, classification as an English learner rather than as an initially fluent English proficient student has important effects that limit students’ educational opportunities. Direct effects of EL classification include: 1) placement into classes with fewer English proficient and native English speaking students, 2) placement into fewer honors and core content area classes, and 3) exposure to less advanced math assessments.
Significance: This paper makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the opportunities and outcomes of students learning English. It identifies malleable factors that can improve EL students’ educational opportunity, and it contributes to theory on educational stratification.

Authors

• Ilana Marice Umansky, University of Oregon

• Christina Mei-Yue Wong, San Francisco Unified School District