We analyze the state education agency policy guidance concerning remote learning published by all 50 U.S. states by the end of March 2020. We find several areas of consensus, including cancellation of testing, recommendations to continue some form of remote learning, attention to digital and non-digital options, and a concerns for providing a fair and appropriate education for students with disabilities. The primary area of policy divergence that we found regarded the purpose of continuous learning during a pandemic: whether to pursue forward progress in standards-aligned new material or whether to pursue skills review and enrichment learning. We recommend that states continue to emphasize equity, consider the particular challenges of home-based learning, and produce concise communications for multiple target audiences.
Using eight waves of longitudinal data on a statewide kindergarten cohort of English learners (ELs), I examined ELs’ tenure in language-learning programs and their academic performance following reclassification as fluent English proficient. I employed discrete-time survival analysis to estimate the average time to and grade of reclassification with and without controlling for socioeconomic status and home language. The average EL exited 3 years after school entry or in second grade; however, the odds that a non-Spanish-speaking EL was reclassified were nearly twice that of their Spanish-speaking EL classmates after controlling for income. Despite reclassification in the early elementary grades, large percentages of the kindergarten cohort experienced later academic difficulties and 22% of the sample was retained in grade.
The recent availability of nationally mandated academic English proficiency data on all English language learners (ELLs) from landmark United States federal education legislation now makes it possible to track these learners' academic progress longitudinally. Using 5 waves of 9th through 12th grade academic English proficiency data from 2004-2008 for a statewide cohort of 9th grade ELLs (n = 3,702), I employed growth modeling to fit a multilevel model for change in academic English proficiency (Singer & Willett, 2003). I found that the average ELL in my sample started high school performing at an early intermediate level of academic English proficiency and was not projected to reach the score indicating proficiency until the end of 11th grade. Further, U.S.-born ELLs began high school with significantly higher levels of academic English proficiency than their foreign-bom ELL peers, but foreign-bom ELLs caught up by the end of high school. However, 60% of high school ELLs were bom in the U.S.-implying that large numbers of these students had spent 9 or more years in U.S. schools without developing sufficient academic language needed to perform mainstream academic work in English. The findings emphasize the need for academic language interventions for adolescent ELLs. This study has implications for countries struggling to promote the language development and academic achievement of large numbers of language minority learners.
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