Charter schools and English learners in the lone star state

Thanks to rapid increases in the state's Hispanic and Asian populations, the number of Texas students classified as English Learners has surged in the past decade, from approximately 830,000 in 2010 to more than 1.1 million today. In the charter sector, change has been even more rapid. In 2010, 16 percent of charter students in Texas were classified as English Learners. Yet by 2021, that figure had nearly doubled to just under 30 percent, even as the share of all Texas students who enrolled in charters "also" doubled (and then some). Consequently, the total number of English Learners in Texas charters has quintupled in the past decade, from less than 25,000 in 2010 to nearly 120,000 in 2021. The rapid growth in Texas's English-Learner population puts a premium on analyzing the educational experiences of this student group, and the disproportionate share of this growth that has occurred in the state's charter sector makes it particularly important to understand how English Learners in that sector are faring. Accordingly, this report addresses three research questions: (1) How do the English Learners who enroll in Texas charter schools compare to their peers in traditional public schools?; (2) How do the academic and economic outcomes of English Learners in Texas charter schools compare to those of their peers in traditional public schools?; and (3) How have the academic outcomes of English Learners in Texas charter schools evolved as the number of English Learners in charters has increased? To address these questions, this report uses student-level data spanning much of the first two decades of this century and a wide range of analytic techniques. In so doing, it brings important new evidence to bear on the educational experiences of one of the fastest-growing student populations in one of the fastest-growing sectors in one of the fastest-growing states in the country.