English Language Learners

This report examines college enrollment rates of 2008 Virginia high school graduates using National Student Clearinghouse and Start Department of Education data. The analysis showed that sixty-two percent of graduates enrolled in a degree-granting institution within one-year of graduation; thirty-seven percent enrolled in four-year colleges and twenty-five percent in two-year colleges. The study also found Advanced-Study Diploma graduates had a higher enrollment rate than did Standard Diploma graduates.

This report describes the results of a mixed methods survey of acceleration programs in Florida. It compares Dual Enrollment with AP, IB, and AICE programs. The study found among Florida 11th and 12th graders in the 2006/2007 school year that 7.3% of students enrolled in a college credit or Dual Enrollment course were predominately White females who were not economically disadvantaged, and the majority of students in accelerated programs were enrolled in programs other than Dual Enrollment programs.

This study compares high school English language learners and non-English language learners performance on content assessments. The study also examined the performance of high school English language learner students in grades 10 and 11 on the Utah Academic Language Proficiency Assessment (UALPA), and on the English language arts and mathematics content assessments administered under the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students (U-PASS).

This REL technical brief examines the use of Lexile-based assessment to determine the readiness of subgroups of 11th grade Texas students to read books used in first year college English courses. Differences in reading abilities were notable based on ethnicity, gender, SES, at-risk status, Limited English Proficiency status, education track (career and technical education vs. general education), and students receiving special education services.

A report from the National High School Center and the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) found that ninth grade course performance is more predictive of high school graduation for English Language Learners (ELLs) in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) than other ELL-specific indicators, including English language proficiency level and whether students experienced interruptions in their education. The study also found that ELL students who were newcomers to CPS after age 12 were less likely to graduate than other students with the same grades and attendance.