State Policy and the Educational Outcomes of English Learner and Immigrant Students: Three Administrative Data Stories

Abstract

Recent years have seen a shift to individual states as the battlegrounds for ensuring the educational rights of the rapidly growing populations of immigrant and English-learning students enrolled at all stages in the educational pipeline. It is, therefore, essential that state policy makers understand how the educational trajectories of immigrant and English learner students can be dramatically influenced by decisions that are made by state legislatures. In this article, we highlight how state and district longitudinal administrative data sets could be leveraged to provide valuable insight in this policy arena. We make use of descriptive portraits of the data systems in Florida, Texas, and New York City, noting both the strengths of each and how all could stand to benefit by incorporating elements of the others. We conclude by offering recommendations for both researchers and policy makers in the use of state data systems to help inform policy affecting the future of immigrant and English-learning students.

Postsecondary Education-Focused Transition Planning Experiences of English Learners With Disabilities

“…The majority of ELs (77%) speak Spanish at home, followed by Arabic (2%) and Chinese (2%). ELs have a range of immigration experiences; more than 50% are born in the United States (Flores, Park, Viano, & Coca, 2017). In addition, ELs are vulnerable to poverty; 30% of Latino school-age population, both with and without EL status, experiences poverty, with 14% of ELs experiencing homelessness (McFarland et al, 2017).…”

“…Race, class, language, and immigration status are relevant to secondary and postsecondary experiences and outcomes (Flores & Drake, 2014; Flores et al, 2017). These intersecting identities and related experiences are particularly salient in the study of special education transition, which is built upon foundational theory and empirical evidence that school-based services and supports (e.g., transition planning) is an important contributor to postsecondary goal attainment (Test et al, 2009).…”

Racial Order, Racialized Responses: Interminority Politics in a Diverse Nation

“…Like Black Americans, many Latinos are brutalized by law enforcement agencies that include not only police departments but also border enforcement units (Cortez 2017(Cortez , 2020. And like African Americans, many Latinos are also held in low regard by society, with astoundingly excessive high school dropout rates, relatively low college enrollments, and stiff incarceration rates used as evidence of this deserved status (Flores et al 2017;Mancilla-Martínez 2018). However, unlike African Americansa community with deep roots in the United Statessome Latinos (particularly those descended from immigrants) are gradually incorporating themselves into mainstream life, as evidenced by higher inter-marriage rates with Whites, higher suburbanization rates, and increased political visibility in Congress (Sears 2015;Sears and Savalei 2006; see also Alba and Nee 2003;Citrin et al 2007;Jiménez 2010;Telles and Ortiz 2008;Telles and Sue 2019).…”