Opportunities to Soar: Advanced Course Enrollment and Performance of Students From Different Language Backgrounds

• In Event: 53.039 - Achieving the Promise of Equal Educational Opportunity for Subgroups of English Learners in Washington State

Abstract

Objectives
This study clarifies disparities in enrollment and performance in advanced courses among Spanish-speaking students, students who speak only English and students who speak other languages.

Theoretical Framework
Providing students with the academic foundation required for advanced courses, together with opportunities to enroll in them, may increase their likelihood of postsecondary success (Long, Conger, & Iatarola, 2012; Roderick & Stoker, 2010). Unfortunately, access to and enrollment in advanced courses is often disproportionate across demographic groups (Barnard-Brak, McGaha-Garnett, & Burley, 2011; Iatarola, Conger, & Long, 2011). Language minority students are frequently overlooked in research concerning disparities in enrollment in advanced courses, though language acquisition and higher mobility rates pose unique barriers to taking advanced courses.

Data and Methods
The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction provided data, including demographic, assessment, and course enrollment records for more than a million students enrolled in Washington state high schools between 2009/10 and 2012/13. We calculated percentages and means and conducted regression analysis. Regression models are described within the figure notes for each instance in which they were used.

Results
Spanish-speaking students take fewer advanced courses than English-only speakers and speakers of other languages. Former English learners and bilingual students whose home language is not Spanish take as many or more advanced courses as English-only speakers.

Prior academic performance explains much of the difference in advanced course enrollment between Spanish-speaking and English-only speakers. When Spanish-speaking students have the same GPA and state standardized math and reading test scores in the prior school year as English-only speaking students, they take about as many or more advanced courses per year. However, prior achievement cannot explain the gap between bilingual speakers of other languages and English-only speakers.

Spanish-speaking students earn lower grades in advanced courses than non–Spanish-speaking students, but these differences disappear when students have the same GPA and test scores in the prior year and attend the same school. Prior achievement explained more of the differences among groups than school enrollment.

Schools with fewer than one percent Spanish-speaking students offer two or more additional advanced courses per 100 students compared to schools with higher percentages of Spanish-speaking students. This result holds after accounting for some of the characteristics that make schools with large Spanish-speaking populations different from schools with small Spanish-speaking populations.



Significance
The findings can inform local and state policy discussions on improving education outcomes for Spanish-speaking students and suggest areas for future research. Understanding the challenges groups of students face could help inform decisions about where to invest efforts to improve student achievement. The findings suggest that advanced course enrollment rates could improve, especially for Spanish speakers, if efforts to accelerate their content mastery and/or English proficiency are successful. The study also shows that Spanish-speaking students attend schools that offer fewer advanced courses than other schools, even after accounting for school characteristics. Future work could identify and monitor barriers to offering advanced courses.

Author

• Havala Hanson, Education Northwest