Lessons Learned: English Learners Are a Bright Spot in Chicago Public Schools

• In Event: Preparation for Postsecondary Education for Latinx Multilingual Learners in Chicago: Multiple Starting Points, Multiple Pathways

Abstract

Practitioners have long contended that current data-reporting and accountability systems have misrepresented the academic performance and progress of English Learners (Gándara, Maxwell-Jolly, & Driscoll, 2005; Gándara & Contreras, 2009; Lucas, 2011; Menken & Antuñez, 2001). Through an innovative research-policy partnership, this paper presents recommendations for school leaders and decision makers to improve policies and practices for English Learners (ELs) in Illinois and nationwide.

ELs’ academic progress has long been insufficiently tracked and misleadingly reported by accountability systems. According to these systems, ELs consistently appear to be behind their native English-speaking peers academically. By collecting more specific data over the long term, the study used to leverage policy recommendations offers empirical evidence to the contrary. With proper support, ELs not only perform far better academically than current standards suggest, but in fact outperform their native English-speaking peers. The narrative of ELs in America has been a deficit-based narrative, when it should be an asset-based one (De la Torre, Blanchard, Allensworth, Freire, 2019). The researchers of this study conducted a retrospective data analysis of more than 18,000 English Learners from kindergarten through eighth grade, in three nine-year cohorts of students. The study also captured more than just test scores, highlighting other important metrics including attendance and grades in core subject areas.

This paper presents recommendations to change EL policy and practice:

1. Federal ESSA guidelines for state accountability, state departments of education, and local school leaders must include monitoring the progress of children’s English language proficiency in the early years. English Learners who are at academic risk can be identified as early as first grade through English language proficiency data. Districts should therefore identify and support these students early on, especially from preschool to third grade, in order to improve their academic trajectory. This will help provide a holistic view of a bilingual student’s performance in areas including native language development, early literacy, and early numeracy (Aigner-Treworgy, Regenstein & Eddy, 2016)

2. State departments of education must provide adequate and consistent financial investment in English Learner programming. Part of the success of the bilingual programs in Chicago Public Schools is that there has been stable bilingual programming with appropriate and adequate investment of resources. Consistent policies set the groundwork for this success.

3. State departments of education must increase investments in building pipelines of qualified bilingual educators. A growing body of research contends that the most important factor influencing English Learner achievement is access to certified and endorsed qualified bilingual education teachers (Gándara & Zarate, 2014)

4. Federal ESSA guidelines for state accountability plans and local school district data analysis must include the collection of longitudinal data through high school of English Learners even after they are English proficient and no longer receiving services.

Authors

• Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro, Latino Policy Forum
  Presenting Author

• Erika Mendez, Latino Policy Forum
  Presenting Author