California policy defines English Language Learners (ELLs) as students who have not reached English proficiency and who speak another language at home. The state sets minimum requirements to determine students’ English proficiency, but individual districts have the freedom to be more rigorous. Therefore, a student can be considered ELL in one district and Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP) in another. My work examines how districts establish their language classification policies and the extent to which the classification itself determines students’ opportunities to learn.
My three-study dissertation addresses the following research questions: 1) How do school districts establish and implement their language classification policies for middle school students? 2) How does language classification affect eighth-grade English and math course placement? 3) How does language classification affect high school students’ English and math achievement and behavioral outcomes? I use data from two Southern California districts, including interviews, documentation and student-level data, to answer these questions. I focus on middle school because it is less frequently studied and it determines adolescents’ high school outcomes.
In study one, MUSD and GUSD administrators developed individual language classification to equitably determine their students’ English proficiency. However, in both districts, assessments served as gatekeepers that students must pass to be reclassified. Male, Hispanic, and low-income students were less likely to be reclassified, even if we consider only those who passed the district’s or state’s requirements. In study two, MUSD administrators stated language classification itself did not determine eighth-grade English and math placement. However, data show under what circumstances language classification influences students’ course placement. The year ELL started to receive specialized English courses, they were placed in lower math courses. In study three, in most instances middle school language classification itself does not affect achievement or behavioral outcomes in high school. At MUSD, ELL may be receiving appropriate English and math; therefore, there is no effect. Alternately, reclassification may not have impact since neither ELL nor RFEP may be receiving adequately rigorous content. The few times classification does affect outcomes, RFEP perform worse than ELL students.
