State and District Implementation of English Language Learner Identification, Placement, Programming, and Exit

• In Event: English Language Learner Policy Implementation at the State and Local Levels: The National Evaluation of Title III

Abstract

Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requires districts to provide programs for English language learners (ELLs) that are aimed at attaining English proficiency and meeting challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards in the core academic subjects (ESEA, Section 3115). However, the criteria and processes used to determine who is—and who is not—actually a member of the ELL subgroup varies across jurisdictions. Although Title III provides a broad federal definition of an ELL , states and districts across the country vary in their methods and measures for enacting this definition. The end result is that a student classified as an ELL in one state or district may not be considered an ELL in another.
This paper describes the nature of the ELL population in Title III districts and explores the varied policies and practices used to identify ELLs and to exit them from the subgroup, as well as practices for supporting former ELLs and challenges in identifying ELLs with disabilities. Further, it explores the range of programs offered to ELLs in districts across the nation, the process of placing students into these programs, and the availability of information on the effectiveness of these programs.
In order to explore the complexities of these issues, this papers draws on three methods of data collection. First, to explore the complexities of state actions to implement Title III—including the interaction with Title I and state efforts to address the needs of their specific EL populations—the research team conducted telephone interviews with state officials who had primary responsibility for Title III. Second, to explore the local implementation of Title III, researchers administered a survey to a nationally representative sample of 1,528 subgrantees (districts) that receive Title III funds. And finally, in order to provide insight into the ways in which the Title III provisions are interpreted and enacted within states, districts, and schools, study teams conducted visits to a purposive sample of 12 Title III districts (including one consortium) nested within 5 states, where researchers spoke directly with district and school leaders, teachers, parent liaisons and parents of ELLs.
The results of these data collection efforts—state interviews, district survey and case study visits—were coded and analyzed through a mixed methods approach in order to provide a greater understanding of how Title III provisions are currently being implemented in states and districts, specifically with regard to the ways in which identify, place and exit the ELLs from services.
Analyses and results for this symposium are complete but results are embargoed by the US Department of Education until the public release of the study’s final report which is expected in winter of 2011-12.

Author

• Laura Golden, American Institutes for Research