64.081 - Reenvisioning English Learner Research Using State and District Data

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

With the heterogeneity of the U.S.’s ever-growing English learner (EL) student population becoming more apparent, and the amount of quantitative data regularly multiplying, researchers and practitioners have wondered how to use such complex data to support meaningful and well-informed decision-making about policies associated with ELs’ academic outcomes and experiences. Our session offers concrete examples of how the sometimes overwhelming “big data” available at state and district levels can be used in innovative ways, by pairing extensive knowledge of EL data and policies with quantitative approaches, to answer both practical and scholarly questions of interest. Each paper also includes a place-based practitioner partnership, with regular iteration of research questions and, at times, the collection of information complementary to traditional administrative datasets.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Second Language Research

Chair

• Manka M. Varghese, University of Washington

Papers

• Making Every EL Count: Cautions and Opportunities of Administrative Data on English Learners - Julie Sugarman, Migration Policy Institute

• Oregon's Use of the Ever English Learner Category for Reporting, Accountability, and Research - Karen D. Thompson, Oregon State University; Josh Rew, Oregon Department of Education; Ilana Marice Umansky, University of Oregon

• Effects of English Learner Reclassification Policies on Academic Trajectories - Laura Hill, Public Policy Institute of California; Julian Betts, University of California - San Diego; Karen Bachofer, University of California - San Diego

• School Staff Expectations for High School English Learners' Math and Science Course-Taking - Elizabeth A. Sanders, University of Washington; Anna Wheeler Van Windekens, University of Washington - Seattle; Manka M. Varghese, University of Washington; Min Li, University of Washington

Discussant

• Jennifer L. Steele, American University