Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools
Author: Uriarte, Miren
Date: 2011-11-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Effective Schools Research,Public Schools,Urban Schools,Outcomes of Education,Educational Improvement,Government School Relationship,English Language Learners,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Case Studies,Enrollment,Institutional Characteristics,School Demography,Educational Objectives,Language Proficiency,Statistical Analysis,Research Methodology

&quot;Identifying Success in Schools and Programs for English Language Learners in Boston Public Schools,&quot; of which this report is one part, is a project commissioned by the Boston Public Schools as part of this process of change set in motion by the intervention of the state and the federal governments on behalf of Boston's English language learners. The project is being conducted at the request of the Office for English Language Learners and is a collaboration among this Office, the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and the Center for Collaborative Education in Boston. The research aspect of this project entails two parts. The first, contained in this report, is a quantitative analysis of enrollment and educational outcomes for Boston's ELLs in SY2009 (with selected analyses of trends between SY2006 and SY2009). This analysis supports aspects of the required monitoring of English language learner programs and provides the district with the 2009 baseline that will support its ongoing assessment of programmatic strengths and weaknesses as it undertakes the brisk process of improvement in the programs offered to English language learners. The project also entails a close, qualitative examination of the practices at four BPS schools which are &quot;beating the odds&quot; in educating ELLs. Detailed case studies of the four schools were conducted: two of the schools performed substantially above the level that would be predicted by their demographic characteristics alone and two showed recent, steady improvement in outcomes controlling for any changes in student demographics. These case studies appear in a companion report entitled &quot;Learning from Consistently High Performing and Improving Schools for English Language Learners in Boston Public Schools.&quot; This report begins with an explanation of the approach taken to conduct the quantitative analysis, followed by its findings regarding the enrollment and demographics of students in different types of programs and schools of different characteristics. This is followed by a discussion of the educational outcomes of LEP students that considers their demographic characteristics, the characteristics of the schools in which they are enrolled, and the types of programs in which they participate. Appended are: (1) Methods; (2) Additional Tables for Chapters III to VIII; (3) Characteristics and Outcomes of LEP Students with Disabilities; and (4) Additional HLM Results. Individual chapters contain endnotes. (Contains 15 figures and 75 tables.) [This paper was written with Eileen de los Reyes and Antonieta Bolomey. For &quot;Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools. Executive Summary,&quot; see ED540996.