English Language Learners

Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Studies of 1988 and 2000, this follow-up study explores the characteristics of formal schooling that contribute to the completion of a bachelor’s degree by the time students reached their mid-20s. The rigor of students’ high school curriculum, particularly rigorous mathematics courses, continued to count more than any other precollegiate factor in determining degree completion. Results indicated that not all students have the same access to a rigorous curriculum.

This report, commissioned by the California Teachers Association’s (CTA) High School Restructuring Task Force and authored by WestEd, synthesizes the major initiatives on high school reform taking place nationally and in California. The publication provides: 1) clear synthesis of the problem and context; 2) research on high-performing high schools, comprehensive school reform models, and the barriers to improvement; 3) current reform proposals and their research base; and 4) suggestions for further discussion and exploration by CTA.

This research brief from the National High School Center outlines existing barriers regarding teacher expectations, tracking, and placement of English language learners (ELLs) and offers key policies and useful strategies in building capacity and developing learning environments conducive for all students in obtaining academic success.

This matched quasi-experimental study compared 9th- and 10th-grade students in 2003–04 and 2004–05 who received READ 180 with students who did not receive the program. Overall, Read 180 students significantly outperformed their counterparts on reading tests. Further, subgroup analyses found that English language learner (ELL) READ 180 students performed better than an ELL comparison group on reading achievement.

This report is a review of studies examining the impact of reading programs on English language learners (ELLs). The studies focus on comparisons between bilingual and English-only programs as well as replicable models that have been evaluated with ELLs. Results of the review indicate that there were a limited number of high-quality studies. The limited evidence favors bilingual education.