Title page
Contents
Summary 3
Why this study? 7
What the study examined 8
What the study found 12
Most English learner students entered kindergarten with medium or high Spanish proficiency 12
Most English learner students in the 2010 cohort entered kindergarten with low English proficiency, but students in the 2011 cohort were about evenly divided between low and medium proficiency 12
Students with higher initial Spanish proficiency in kindergarten also had higher initial English proficiency 14
A majority of English learner students were reclassified as fluent English proficient four years after kindergarten 15
Students with high initial Spanish proficiency in kindergarten were more likely to be reclassified as fluent English proficient than were students with low or medium initial Spanish proficiency 15
Only a small percentage of English learner students who were reclassified as fluent English proficient by grade 4 or 5 also demonstrated grade-level readiness in English language arts and math in grade 4 or 5 17
Although fewer than a quarter of English learner students reclassified as fluent English proficient were grade-level ready, in both cohorts students with high initial Spanish proficiency had a slight advantage 17
Supplemental correlation analysis supports the finding that grade-level readiness in math is more strongly linked to higher initial Spanish proficiency than is grade-level readiness in English language arts 19
Implications of the study findings 19
Limitations of the study 22
Appendix A. Research literature overview 24
Appendix B. Data and methodology 26
References 35
Table 1. Percentages of Spanish-speaking English learner students reclassified as fluent English proficient who demonstrated grade-level readiness in English language arts and math in grade 4 or 5, by initial Spanish proficiency,... 18
Figure 1. About three-quarters of Spanish-speaking English learner students in the 2010 and 2011 sample cohorts in New Mexico entered kindergarten with medium or high Spanish proficiency 13
Figure 2. Most Spanish-speaking English learner students in the 2010 sample cohort in New Mexico entered kindergarten with low English proficiency, whereas those in the 2011 cohort were evenly divided between low and... 13
Figure 3. Spanish-speaking English learner students entering kindergarten in the 2010 and 2011 sample cohorts in New Mexico with higher Spanish proficiency also had higher English proficiency 14
Figure 4. More than 80 percent of Spanish-speaking English learner students in the 2010 sample cohort in New Mexico were reclassified as fluent English proficient five years after kindergarten, and 59 percent in the 2011 sample... 15
Figure 5. In both the 2010 and 2011 sample cohorts in New Mexico, students who entered kindergarten with high Spanish proficiency were more likely to be reclassified as fluent English proficient in years 4 and 5 after kindergarten... 16
Figure 6. Among Spanish-speaking English learner students reclassified as fluent English proficient by grade 4 or 5, less than a quarter in both New Mexico sample cohorts also demonstrated grade-level readiness in English language... 18
Boxes
Box 1. Key terms 8
Box 2. Data, sample, and methods 10
Table B1. Information on Spanish language proficiency assessments and domains used in New Mexico, 2009/10-2010/11 27
Table B2. On-time grade-level progression and assessments for 2010 and 2011 kindergarten cohorts in four districts in New Mexico through 2014/15 28
Table B3. Number and percentage of English learner students in kindergarten in New Mexico, 2009/10 and 2010/11 29
Table B4. Number and percentage of initial Spanish-speaking English learner students in kindergarten and receiving bilingual multicultural education program services, statewide and in four sample districts, 2009/10 and 2010/11 30
Table B5. Number and percentage of initial Spanish-speaking English learner students in kindergarten with valid standardized assessment data in grade 4 or 5 in 2014/15 in four sample districts in New Mexico 30
Table B6. Number and percentage of initial Spanish-speaking English learner students in kindergarten reclassified as fluent English proficient and with valid standardized assessment data in grade 4 or 5 in 2014/15 in four sample... 31
Table B7. Comparison of demographic characteristics of initial Spanish-speaking English learner students in kindergarten in four sample school districts and statewide in New Mexico, 2009/10 and 2010/11 31
Figure B1. Identifying English learner students in New Mexico for inclusion in the study sample 28