School Staff Expectations for High School English Learners' Math and Science Course-Taking

• In Event: 64.081 - Reenvisioning English Learner Research Using State and District Data

Abstract

Objectives

Research on the role of advising by school personnel in shaping English learner (EL) students’ academic outcomes in the U.S. is limited, but has suggested an element of “protecting” ELs from challenging coursework (Kanno & Kangas, 2014). As part of a researcher-practitioner partnership, university researchers and district leaders co-created a survey to understand expectations around high school students’ math and science course-taking and advising. Our questions were: 1) What are the expectations around math and science course-taking and advising for high school ELs? 2) Are these expectations predicted by region, staff role, or expectations for non-ELs?

Perspective

In the U.S., student advising by school staff, especially school counselors, has been associated with students’ course-taking decisions and academic outcomes (McKillip, Rawls, & Barry, 2012). This may be even more likely for immigrant-origin students, whose families may more readily defer to school authorities, even when their children are placed in limited coursework (Callahan, 2013).

Methods and data sources

During the first year of a researcher-practitioner partnership with district leaders at a large, public, urban, and linguistically-diverse district, an online survey of school staff was co-created to better understand the expectations for ELs and non-EL peers. Of the 321 participants invited from 11 schools across five regions, 82 (26%) responded. For math items, the sample included n = 55 participants (37 math teachers, 10 counselors, and 8 EL teachers); for science, the sample included n = 48 (26 science teachers, 10 counselors, and 12 EL teachers).

Results

Figures 1-2 display which courses students were expected to take by the end of high school. Both EL and non-EL students were expected to take up to algebra 2 (high school graduation requirement), but ELs were significantly less likely to be expected to take pre-calculus (Figure 1). There were similar expectations for ELs and non-ELs on physical science, biology, and science electives, but a significant gap emerged for chemistry (Figure 2). Analyses showed that region and role were not predictive of EL course-taking; however, those who believed that non-ELs would be advised to take a course were significantly more likely to expect ELs to take the same course. Figures 3-4 illustrate perceptions around who advises students: both ELs and non-ELs were expected to be advised by their content teachers and counselors, however, ELs were also expected to be advised by EL teachers. Finally, Figure 5 shows views about how schools are improving EL course enrollment: for math, one-third believed that students needed to take additional coursework; for science the modal response was “don’t know”.

Significance

Much of the work to date on EL academic achievement has centered on describing achievement gaps with non-EL peers; less has focused on how the gap arises. Recent evidence point to the roles of well-intentioned school counselors and teachers (Callahan, 2013; Kanno & Kangas, 2014; McKillip et al., 2012). The present paper adds to the literature, showing that 1) gaps still exist for college-bound coursework, and 2) EL teachers may hold a pivotal role in advising EL students.

Authors

• Elizabeth A. Sanders, University of Washington

• Anna Wheeler Van Windekens, University of Washington - Seattle

• Manka M. Varghese, University of Washington

• Min Li, University of Washington