English Learner Pathways in Community College (Poster 32)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: 2022 Education Research Service Project Poster Session

Abstract

English Learners (ELs) comprise 10% of the students in the US K-12 public school system, but little is known about their postsecondary experiences. As a large, historically disadvantaged subgroup, ELs’ postsecondary access should be at the forefront of policy discussions. However, due to the difficulty in tracking ELs from high school to college, existing research has been unable to identify ELs in postsecondary institutions to track their academic outcomes. The proposed study, to be conducted in partnership with the City College of San Francisco and San Francisco Unified School District, addresses this critical research gap. Using unique student level data that matches K-12 administrative records with college transcripts, we analyze college course-taking, credit earning, and degree completion patterns for a large, well-identified EL sample (N=426). K-12 EL academic outcomes differ by demographic factors and years spent as ELs, but no study has disaggregated college outcomes by EL subgroup. This study reports findings by home language, years spent as ELs in K-12, and English proficiency.

The findings will provide important immediate applications to policy and practice and valuable insight for future research. CCSF will use our findings to design curriculum and academic support services targeting EL graduates. SFUSD will use our results to develop programs to prepare ELs for college success. The partnership between SFUSD, CCSF, and the researcher enables rigorous analyses of linked longitudinal data spanning up to 19 years for each student. Having established a data linking and analysis infrastructure, the partner institutions will be able to jointly examine future student data with minimal additional time and financial cost. Through this study, we hope to promote research partnerships between K-12 and higher education systems so that underserved students can be effectively supported throughout their postsecondary education.

Authors

• Angela Johnson, American Institutes for Research

• Diana G. Mercado-Garcia, California Education Partners