The Impact of English Learner Classification Among Alaska Native Students

• In Event: English Learner Policy and Indigenous Students: Understanding Policy and Promoting Linguistically and Culturally Sustaining Education

Abstract

Purpose

Federal law defines eligibility for English learner (EL) classification differently for Indigenous (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) students compared to non-Indigenous students (Every Student Succeeds Act, 2015). Whereas non-Indigenous students must have a primary or home language other than English, Indigenous students are eligible for EL classification if a language other than English has had a significant impact on their English development. In practice, a student whose primary language is English can be EL classified, creating a situation where Indigenous EL students may have different linguistic profiles than other EL students. A critical question, therefore, is how EL classification and services impact Indigenous students’ outcomes and how these impacts differ from those of non-Alaska Native English learner students.

Perspective

Given eligibility differences, EL classification may, on average, impact Indigenous students differently than non-Indigenous students. On the one hand, EL services are centered on English language development and accessible core content instruction, which may be less beneficial for students who speak English as their primary language. This may mean that EL classification is less beneficial – or even harmful – for Indigenous compared to non-Indigenous EL students. Alternatively, if schools identify Indigenous students who speak an English variety different from standard English (Leap, 2012) targeted instruction in standard English may support their academic development (Holbrook, 2011). Similarly, if schools and districts adapt EL services to the unique educational contexts of Indigenous students – heritage language programs, culturally-sustaining pedagogy, and educational self-determination (Brayboy & Castagno, 2009; Lomawaima & McCarty, 2002; McCarty & Lee, 2014) – EL classification resources may be beneficial.

Methods

Using a regression discontinuity design, we examine the impact of EL classification on math and English language arts (ELA) test scores, as well as on special education identification and attendance, among Alaska Native students who score near the EL threshold in kindergarten. We examine how EL classification effects compare for Alaska Native and non-Alaska Native students. Longitudinal, student-level data from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and five Alaskan school districts spanning from the 2011/12 to 2018/19 school years is used for this study.

Results

We find that, among Alaska Native students who score near the EL classification threshold in kindergarten, EL classification has a large negative impact on Alaska Native students’ academic outcomes, especially in the 3rd and 4th grades; impacts that are larger in magnitude than for non-Alaska Native students. We find no evidence of EL classification effects on special education identification or attendance among Alaska Native students, with parallel results across a series of robustness checks including coarsened exact matching estimates.

Significance

This study situates Indigenous EL classification policy within the context of Indigenous and Alaska Native education. Given our findings that EL classification and services do not benefit many Alaska Native students, adapting EL services to meet the individual profiles of students and developing and differentiating services for non-immigrant students and students with higher levels or English proficiency, including fluent speakers of non-standard English varieties, is an important implication (Brooks, 2017).

Authors

• Ilana M. Umansky, University of Oregon

• Manuel Vazquez Cano, Education Northwest & University of Oregon

• Lorna Porter, WestEd