A Descriptive Analysis of Enrollment and Achievement among English Language Learner Students in Delaware. Issues &amp; Answers. REL 2012-No. 132
Author: O'Conner, Rosemarie
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Achievement Gap,Comparative Analysis,Educational Change,Educational Indicators,Educational Trends,English (Second Language),English Language Learners,Enrollment Trends,Language Proficiency,Limited English Speaking,Public Schools,Scores,Student Evaluation,Time Perspective,Trend Analysis,Mathematics Achievement,Reading Achievement,Science Achievement,Social Studies,Grade 2,Grade 3,Grade 4,Grade 5,Grade 6,Grade 7,Grade 8,Grade 9,Grade 10,Grade 11,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,High School Students

This study describes English language learner (ELL) student enrollment and achievement trends in Delaware public schools from 2002/03 to 2008/09. Two research questions guide this study: (1) How did the enrollment of ELL students in Delaware public schools change between 2002/03 and 2008/09?; and (2) How did performance (the percentage scoring at the meets the standard, exceeds the standard, or distinguished level) on state assessments in reading and math in grades 2-10 and in science and social studies in grades 4, 6, 8, and 11 compare between ELL and non-ELL students in Delaware public schools from 2002/03 to 2008/09? The study's main findings on enrollment trends include: (1) Between 2002/03 and 2008/09, ELL student enrollment in Delaware public schools rose 91.7 percent, while total enrollment rose 7.7 percent. ELL student enrollment rose from 3.0 percent of the total student population in 2002/03 to 5.4 percent in 2008/09; (2) Between 2002/03 and 2008/09, ELL students accounted for a larger share of total enrollment in elementary school (grades K-5) than in middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12). In 2008/09, ELL students accounted for 8.6 percent of the elementary school population, 3.3 percent of the middle school population, and 2.2 percent of the high school population; (3) The percentage of ELL students classified in the three lowest levels of English proficiency dropped from 73.4 percent in 2005/06 to 48.1 percent in 2008/09; (4) ELL students in Delaware spoke 81 languages in 2008/09, up from 60 in 2002/03. In 2008/09, Spanish (spoken by 77.2 percent of ELL students in the state) had the most speakers, followed by Creole (4.2 percent), Chinese (2.0 percent), and Gujarati (1.5 percent). ELL students speaking &quot;other&quot; languages (languages other than the 12 most common in the state) accounted for 7.2 percent of the ELL student population in 2008/09; and (5) The number and percentage of ELL students speaking Spanish, Gujarati, and &quot;other&quot; languages increased between 2002/03 and 2008/09. During this period, the number of ELL students speaking Creole and Chinese increased, but the percentage decreased. The study's main findings on achievement trends include: (1) Between 2005/06 and 2008/09, ELL students' performance in reading increased 6.6-37.5 percentage points in grades 3-10 but decreased 1.2 percentage points in grade 2; (2) Between 2005/06 and 2008/09, ELL students' performance in math increased 2.9-32.4 percentage points in grades 3-9 but decreased 3.4-3.7 percentage points in grades 2 and 10; (3) Between 2002/03 and 2008/09, ELL students' performance in science increased 4.7-18.1 percentage points in all grades studied (grades 4, 6, 8, and 11); (4) Between 2002/03 and 2008/09, ELL students' performance in social studies increased 11.5-27.6 percentage points in grades 4, 6, and 8 but decreased 5.6 percentage points in grade 11; (5) Between 2002/03 and 2008/09, non-ELL students' performance in science and social studies was higher than that of ELL students in all grades. Between 2005/06 and 2008/09, non-ELL students' performance in reading and math was higher than that of ELL students in all grades except in grade 2 reading and math in 2005/06, grade 3 reading in 2006/07 and 2008/09, and grade 3 math in 2008/09; (6) Between 2005/06 and 2008/09, ELL and non-ELL students' performance in reading and math was closer in elementary school (grades 2-5) than in middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-10). During this period, the achievement gap in reading between ELL and non-ELL students widened in grade 2, narrowed in grades 4-10, and reversed in grade 3, and the achievement gap in math widened in grades 2, 9, and 10, reversed in grade 3, and narrowed in grades 4-8; and (7) Between 2002/03 and 2008/09, ELL and non-ELL students' performance in science and social studies was closer in elementary school than in middle school and high school. During this period, the achievement gap in science between ELL and non-ELL students narrowed in grades 4 and 6 and widened in grades 8 and 11, and the achievement gap in social studies narrowed in grades 4, 6, and 8 and widened in grade 11. Appended are: (1) Data and methodology; (2) Student enrollment by grade in Delaware; (3) Language enrollment in Delaware; (4) Performance-level descriptions of the Delaware Student Testing Program; (5) Score ranges of the Delaware Student Testing Program; (6) Percentage of students scoring at the meets the standard, exceed the standard, or distinguished level in Delaware's Assessment Program. (Contains 3 boxes, 28 figures, 29 tables and 17 notes.) [For &quot;A Descriptive Analysis of Enrollment and Achievement among English Language Learner Students in Delaware. Summary. Issues &amp; Answers. REL 2012-No. 132,&quot; see ED531427.]