Indigenous Students and English Learner Identification: A Fifty-State Policy Review

Abstract

English 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 EL. Title III of the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) defines EL eligibility differently for Indigenous, compared to non-Indigenous, students with implications for who is identified as an EL and how best to serve their academic and linguistic interests. This study presents findings from a 50-state review of Indigenous EL identification policy. We find that states fall into four categories ranging from no differentiation in Indigenous EL identification to clear differentiation. We describe each of these four categories and conclude with reflections on how this wide variation in state policies has implications for Indigenous students’ educational resources and experiences.

Resource for Self-Determination or Perpetuation of Linguistic Imposition: Effects of English Learner Classification Among Alaska Native Students*

“…Both Indigenous students and EL students face lower rates of high school completion and lower standardized academic assessment scores in relation to non-Indigenous and non-EL peers in Alaska (Alaska DEED, 2018). Only 11% of Alaska Native EL students are reclassified out of EL status by seventh grade (Umansky et al, 2021), a much lower percentage than similar analyses looking at predominantly non-Indigenous students (Slama, 2014;K. D. Thompson, 2017a).…”

“…Heritage language programs 3 are positively associated with Indigenous students' linguistic and academic growth, as well as engagement, intergenerational communication, sense of identity, and connection to community (Apthorp et al, 2002;Arviso & Holm, 2001;August et al, 2006;Lomawaima & McCarty, 2002;Smallwood et al, 2009). As of 2018, there were at least six districts in Alaska that offered Alaska Native heritage language programs or bilingual programs, including Yupik 4 and Inupiaq languages (Umansky et al, 2021). Research on Yupik programs suggests that they have strong support from community members and families, but face challenges through standardized education policy implementation and rapid language shift to English among youth (Williams & Rearden, 2006;Wyman et al, 2010aWyman et al, , 2010b.…”

“…In Alaska, in 2019, 12% of the state's K-12 students were EL-classified, and of those, 41% were American Indian or Alaska Native, far higher than the 8% of ELs nationally who were American Indian/Alaska Native (Office of English Language Acquisition, 2020). A quarter of Alaska Native kindergartners are EL-classified (Umansky et al, 2021), and Yupik is the most common language family spoken by EL students in the state (Snyder et al, 2019).…”

“…This study was carried out together with another mixed-methods, practitioner-oriented study conducted in partnership with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and a group of Alaska school districts (Umansky et al, 2021). 5 The data across the two studies included statewide longitudinal student-level data matched with data from five Alaska school districts.…”

“…§ 44.12.310) from four major language families: Aleut, Tsimshianic, Haida, and Athabancan-Eyak-Tlingit (Krauss, 2007). Roughly a quarter of Alaska Native students are EL-classified when they enter school (Umansky et al, 2021).…”