[lg policy] Many L.A. students not moving out of English language classes

[Harold Schiffman]

Many L.A. students not moving out of English language classes

Almost 30% of those placed early on in such programs in L.A. Unified
were still in them when they started high school, study says. The
sooner students moved on, the more they excelled.
By Anna Gorman

October 29, 2009

Nearly 30% of Los Angeles Unified School District students placed in
English language learning classes in early primary grades were still
in the program when they started high school, increasing their chances
of dropping out, according to a new study released Wednesday. More
than half of those students were born in the United States and
three-quarters had been in the school district since first grade,
according to the report by the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute at USC.
The findings raise questions about the teaching in the district's
English language classes, whether students are staying in the program
too long and what more educators should do for students who start
school unable to speak English fluently.

"If you start LAUSD at kindergarten and are still in ELL classes at
ninth grade, that's too long," said Wendy Chavira, assistant director
of the policy institute. "There is something wrong with the curriculum
if there are still a very large number of students being stuck in the
system."  Researchers tracked the data on 28,700 students from the
time they started sixth grade in 1999 until graduation in 2005. They
found that students who were moved to mainstream classes by the time
they were in eighth grade were more likely than students who remained
in English language classes to stay in school, take advanced placement
courses in high school and pass the high school exit exam.

Mary Campbell, who is in charge of English language learning programs
at L.A. Unified, said students must learn English as well as the
grade-level material to move into mainstream classes. That often takes
longer than learning the language, she said.  "We are aggressively
looking at supporting these longtime English learners to ensure that
they get the support needed to reclassify in a timely manner," she
said. The vast majority of the students in the segregated language
classes are not recent immigrants but rather U.S.-born youths,
according to the study. Nearly 70% of all students ever placed in the
English language learning program were born in the United States.

Previous studies have shown that English language learners generally
score lower on standardized tests than their English-only classmates.
Other studies have shown that students in English language classes are
usually placed with less experienced teachers, focus on language
skills rather than content and are segregated from students who speak
English. "The United States has never learned what is the best way to
teach English to English learners," said Harry Pachon, president of
the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute. "That's really a shortcoming."

The sooner students switch to regular classes the better, the new
study showed. Students who moved out of English classes by third grade
scored up to 40 points higher on standardized tests than those who
stayed in the classes. If the students moved by fifth grade, they
scored about 10 points higher than their peers. And in some cases,
students who were in English learning programs and then moved out
performed better than students in English-only classes. All students
who speak a second language at home must take a test to see whether
they should be placed into classes for English learners. Once they are
enrolled, they must take another test to get out. But Pachon said the
process to get in is easier than it is to get out.

Though the study didn't determine why students were staying in English
language programs for so long, researchers say schools may avoid
moving English learners into mainstream classes to keep test scores
high.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-english29-2009oct29,0,2542301,print.story

anna.gorman at latimes.com



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