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Multilingual learners
Effects of Dual-Language Immersion on Attendance and Reclassification in a Large Urban District
Lucrecia Santibañez, Clemence Darriet, Sarah Asson, Francesca López, Claudia Cervantes-Soon, Erica Frankenberg.Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceDual-language immersion (DLI) programs have proliferated across the United States, yet evidence on their effects for English Learner-designated (EL) students in large, diverse urban districts remains limited. This study examines DLI's effects on attendance and reclassification—two outcomes that… more →
Digital Incentives in Surveys: Response Rates and Sociodemographic Effects in a Large-Scale Parental Nudge Intervention
Topics: MethodsThis study examines how digital incentives influence survey participation and engagement in a large randomized controlled trial of parents across six school districts. We test how incentive amount and information about vendor options affect response behavior and explore differences by language… more →
Bulwark or Barrier? The Effect of Academic Criteria-Based Reclassification on the High School Outcomes of Multilingual Learners in Texas
Topics: Student LearningEnglish learner (EL) classification can provide multilingual students (MLs) with key supports while simultaneously limiting access to important educational opportunities. To determine when students are ready to exit EL status, some states require students to meet academic criteria in addition to… more →
Off to a Great Start: The Potential for Tutoring Paired with the Off2Class Foundational Literacy Curriculum to Boost English Proficiency Gains for Adolescent Newcomer English Learners
Topics: Student LearningAdolescent English learners with low literacy strive to learn a new language with minimal or no reading skills. Their efforts are often complicated by having special learning needs or limited experiences with formal education. Meanwhile, they need English literacy in middle and high school,… more →
Absent and Afraid? Immigration Enforcement and Student Attendance in the Second Trump Administration
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceIntensified immigration enforcement activity under the second Trump administration has increased anxiety for immigrants in the United States, including many families with school-age children. This study provides early evidence on the effects of the second Trump presidency on the attendance of… more →
The effects of third-grade retention on multilingual students: A gateway or a gatekeeper?
Topics: Student LearningThis paper estimates the effect of test-based grade retention on multilingual students classified as English Learners (ML-ELs). This policy could provide an opportunity for ML-ELs to develop English language proficiency and master academic content or put them at increased risk of worse academic… more →
Identifying Indicators to Support Educational Attainment for Different Groups of English Learners in High School
This study examines a broad array of potential indicators for early warning and college readiness indicator systems for different subgroups of English Learners in high school. Using data from 2008 through 2021 from the Chicago Public Schools, the study follows cohorts of students from eighth… more →
Reclassifying English Learners
Topics: Student LearningMost English learners (ELs) eventually gain sufficient English proficiency to be reclassified and receive instruction without linguistic supports. Though well-identified, prior regression discontinuity estimates for the effect of reclassification are estimated too imprecisely to detect policy-… more →
Peer Victimization Among English Learners: Examining the Role of Dual-Language and English-Only Programs
Topics: Student Well-BeingThis study examines the relationship between English Learner (EL) classification, language program type, and peer victimization using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Kindergarten Class of 2011. Leveraging a sample of 9,562 children, this study… more →
What happened to adult education in the United States?
In 2000, federally funded public adult education programs provided basic skills training and English language instruction to over 2.6 million students, or about 1.5% of the U.S. adult population. By 2021, enrollment had plummeted to under 900,000, or less than 0.4% of adults. What explains these… more →
Can Computer-Assisted Instruction Help Schools to Close the Achievement Gap: Evaluation of a District-Wide Reading Intervention
Topics: Student LearningA concerning number of middle and high school students lack fundamental reading skills in the United States. One common way schools address this issue is by supporting those students with computer-assisted instruction. This study evaluates the causal effect of one such computer-assisted… more →
Racial, linguistic, and economic diversity across schools with two-way dual language immersion programs: Evidence from Los Angeles Unified School District
Sarah Asson, Erica Frankenberg, Clemence Darriet, Lucrecia Santibañez, Claudia Cervantes-Soon, Francesca López.Topics: Families and CommunitiesTwo-way dual language immersion programs (TWDL) aim to integrate English speakers and speakers of a partner language in the same classroom to receive content instruction in both languages. Stated goals include bilingualism and biliteracy, high academic achievement, and sociocultural competence.… more →
Educational Spillover Effects of New English Learners in a New Destination State
Topics: Student LearningThe number of English learners enrolled in public schools has grown substantially in the United States over the past two decades. The growth is especially large in states in the South and Midwest that have not been traditional destinations for recent immigrants. In this study, we examine the… more →
Understanding Heterogeneous Patterns of Family Engagement with Educational Technology to Inform School-Family Communication in Linguistically Diverse Communities
Topics: Families and CommunitiesWe leverage log data from an educational app and two-way text message records from over 3,500 students during the summers of 2019 and 2020, along with in-depth interviews in Spanish and English, to identify patterns of family engagement with educational technology. Based on the type and timing… more →
Does Reclassification Change How English Learners Feel about School and Themselves? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design
Topics: Student LearningReclassification can be an important juncture in the academic experience of English Learners (ELs). Literature has explored the potential for reclassification to influence academic outcomes like achievement, yet its impact on social-emotional learning (SEL) skills, which are as malleable and… more →
Indigenous Students and English Learner Identification: A Fifty-State Policy Review
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceEnglish learner (EL) education is widely conceived as services for immigrant-origin students, however nearly one in ten American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students are classified in school as ELs. Title III of the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) defines EL eligibility… more →
Understanding Newcomer English Learner Students’ English Language Development: Comparisons and Predictors
Topics: Student LearningAn important subgroup of English learner-classified (EL) students immigrate to the U.S., entering U.S. schools upon their arrival. Using growth models and statewide data, this study asks first, how newcomers’ English proficiency status and growth compare to those of non-newcomer EL students; and… more →
Resource for Self-Determination or Perpetuation of Linguistic Imposition: Examining the Impact of English Learner Classification among Alaska Native Students
Topics: Student LearningFederal law defines eligibility for English learner (EL) classification differently for Indigenous students compared to non-Indigenous students. Indigenous students, unlike non-Indigenous students, are not required to have a non-English home or primary language. A critical question, therefore,… more →
Within-Year Achievement Gains for English Learners
Topics: Student LearningThis study reports achievement levels and fall-to-spring gains in grades K to 8 for three groups of English Learners (ELs): (a) ever-ELs who were ever eligible for service; (b) current-ELs who continue to require service; and (b) dually-identified students eligible for both EL and Special… more →
Dual Language Education and Academic Growth
Topics: Student LearningThis paper reports math and reading academic achievement and growth in grades 2 to 8 for Hispanic participants and nonparticipants of a Spanish-English dual language program. I apply a piecewise multilevel growth model to administrative data from a large school district that enrolls a… more →