Families of English learners

This Fact Sheet highlights English learner students in secondary schools who are career and technical education participants (received at least one CTE credit in that year) and concentrators (received three credits within a career cluster during high school).

The term “English learners (ELs)” refers to the student population defined in section 8101(20) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. As of the fall of 2021 ELs represent approximately 11% of the total student enrollment in U.S. K–12 public schools.

Nationally, there are 213,832 English learner (EL) students who identify as Black,1 making up 4% of all ELs in public schools. This community brings a wealth of diverse languages, countries of origin, and cultural identities to communities across all 50 U.S. states.

We were asked to examine how states and districts identify English learners and how they ensure that they are accurately identifying English learners with disabilities.

Career and technical education (CTE) encompasses courses and programs of study in which students acquire challenging academic, technical, and employability skills to succeed in postsecondary education and in-demand careers.

The U.S. Department of Education's "Raise the Bar" initiative aims to provide every student with a pathway to multilingualism, while ensuring equitable access to a high-quality education for English learners.