USING HSLS09 TO ASSESS EFFECT OF LANGUAGE IDENTIFICATION AND COURSE ENROLLMENT ON ACCESS TO ADVANCED COURSE CONTENT

• In Event: Division D Graduate Student in Progress Research Gala

Abstract

English language learning programs for students in grades 9-12 have long been assumed to be necessary for students, yet educators argue that identification may cause problems for students in accessing higher level coursework while in high school. This paper contributes to this debate by evaluating the effectiveness of English language acquisition enrollment and coursework with respect to ELL students’ enrollment patterns. To allow for possible sample selection bias, the propensity score matching method is applied. This method matches treated and control persons with similar characteristics such that the assignment to each group can be considered as random placement and treatment effects can be worked out by comparing the outcomes of the corresponding matching partners. Anticipated results include a pattern in enrollment of identified ELL students and their monolingual peers. Preliminary results are currently descriptive statistics of the “treatment group”- ELLs and their monolingual peers. Overall, this research supports using existing data sets to look specifically at groups of students and the effect of choices on labeled groups of students like English Language learners.

Author

• Elizabeth Ault, University of Kansas