Washington English Learner Student Performance and Advanced Course Participation Explored in New Study

This study describes patterns in advanced coursetaking among four groups of high school students in Washington state: current English learner students, monitored English learner students (reclassified as English proficient within the previous two school years), former English learner students (reclassified more than two school years ago), and never-English learner students. The study finds that students' academic preparation accounts for much of the difference in advanced course enrollment and performance: C/ Current, monitored, and former English learner students take 0.5-1 fewer advanced courses per school year than never-English learner students do. However, students who are similarly prepared take advanced courses at a similar rate. C/ Current, monitored, and former English learner students are 40-50 percent less likely to complete algebra I in middle school than never-English learner students are, and students who pass algebra I in middle school take more than twice as many math courses beyond algebra II as students who pass in grade 9 do. C/ The grades that current, monitored, and former English learner students earn in advanced courses are similar to those that never-English learner students earn in those courses after students' prior academic performance is taken into account. C/ Schools with the lowest percentages of students who have ever been classified as English learner students offer more advanced courses than other schools doeven after school characteristics, such as average standardized test scores in math and reading, are taken into account