Title page
Contents
Summary 3
Why this study? 7
What the study examined 8
What the study found 11
The number of English learner students speaking languages other than Spanish increased 11
The percentage of English learner students attending the district's newcomer academy increased, while the percentage of English learner students attending bilingual schools decreased 11
English learner students increasingly attended schools with school climate scores higher than the district average 12
English learner students' English language arts performance was below the district average, while their math performance was closer to that of other students 12
English learner students' overall English language proficiency levels were generally stable 14
Special education status and lower prior-year assessment performance were consistently associated with lower academic performance and English language proficiency level 15
English learner students whose native language was Arabic tended to have lower English language proficiency levels, while gifted students and female students tended to have higher proficiency levels 15
The percentage of Spanish-speaking English learner students in a school was associated with math performance and with English language overall, listening, and speaking proficiency levels 16
School climate domains were positively associated with English language speaking proficiency level but not with most other student outcomes 17
Implications of the study findings 17
Limitations of the study 19
Appendix A. Review of the literature 20
Appendix B. Study methodology 22
Appendix C. Additional results 34
Notes 50
References 51
Table 1. Student characteristics related to English learner math and English language arts performance and English language proficiency levels, 2016/17 15
Table 2. School characteristics related to English learner math and English language arts performance and English language proficiency levels, 2016/17 16
Table 3. Conditions for Learning Survey measures related to math and English language arts performance and English language proficiency levels of English learner students, 2016/17 17
Figure 1. The percentage of English learner students in grades 3–8 who spoke Spanish decreased between 2011/12 and 2016/17, while the percentages who spoke Arabic or African languages increased 11
Figure 2. The percentage of English learner students in grades 3–8 attending the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's newcomer academy more than doubled from 2011/12 to 2016/17 12
Figure 3. English learner students in grades 3–8 attended schools that scored above the district average on all four domains of school climate from 2012/13 to 2016/17 13
Figure 4. English learner students' performance on state standardized assessments from 2011/12 to 2016/17 were below the district average for English language arts in all six years of the study and for math in four years of the study 13
Figure 5. Overall English language proficiency levels among English learner students in grades 3–8 were stable under each state assessment from 2011/12 to 2016/17 14
Boxes
Box 1. School options for English learner students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District 8
Box 2. Samples, measures, and methodology 9
Table B1. Number of English learner students and schools enrolling English learner students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, 2011/12–2016/17 22
Table B2. Student- and school-level variables used in analyses 23
Table B3. Rates of missing student- and school-level data in the analytic samples for descriptive analyses, 2011/12–2016/17 28
Table B4. Rates of missing student- and school-level data in the analytic samples for student performance regression analyses, 2016/17 30
Table B5. Rates of missing student- and school-level data in the analytic samples for English language proficiency regression analyses, 2016/17 31
Table C1. Summary characteristics of English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, 2011/12–2016/17 34
Table C2. Summary characteristics of schools attended by English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, 2011/12–2016/17 35
Table C3. Summary characteristics of nonmultilingual schools attended by English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, 2011/12–2016/17 37
Table C4. Summary characteristics of bilingual schools attended by English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, 2011/12–2016/17 39
Table C5. Summary characteristics of the newcomer academy attended by English learner students in grades 3–8 in Cleveland Metropolitan School District, 2011/12–2016/17 41
Table C6. Average scores on the state standardized math and English language arts assessments among English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, 2011/12–2016/17 42
Table C7. Percentage of English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District scoring at each level on the listening domain subscale of the English language proficiency assessment, 2011/12–2016/17 42
Table C8. Percentage of English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District scoring at each level on the speaking subscale of the English language proficiency assessment, 2011/12–2016/17 43
Table C9. Percentage of English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District scoring at each level on the reading subscale of the English language proficiency assessment, 2011/12–2016/17 43
Table C10. Percentage of English learner students in grades 3–8 in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District scoring at each level on the writing subscale of the English language proficiency assessment, 2011/12–2016/17 43
Table C11. State standardized assessment scores in math and English language arts regressed on student and school characteristics, 2016/17 44
Table C12. English language proficiency levels, overall and by subscale, regressed on student- and school-level variables, 2016/17 45
Table C13. State standardized assessment scores in math and English language arts regressed on school climate variables, 2016/17 47
Table C14. English language proficiency levels, overall and by subscale, regressed on school climate variables, 2016/17 47
Table C15. Summary of student and school characteristics related to English learner student math and English language arts performance and English language proficiency levels, 2016/17 48