5-Year Study Faults Placement Practices For LEP Students

The types of educational services provided to children with limited English proficiency are primarily determined by local conditions and the resources available in the school district. This is what a study conducted by the U.S. Education Department found, as it tracked the progress of LEP elementary-school students over a five-year period. The study concluded that factors such as school and classroom size, as well as the number of LEP students, have a greater influence on the placement of these students than their individual academic needs or English proficiency levels. However, the study did note that English proficiency does play a minor role in assigning services, particularly in the earlier grades.

The study also identified significant flaws in schools’ procedures for placing children in or removing them from LEP programs, and a widespread failure by schools to fully comply with district policies in this area. Furthermore, it revealed that Spanish-speaking students, who made up 78 percent of the students studied, were much more likely to receive instruction in their native language compared to other LEP students. Specifically, 72 percent of Spanish-speaking 1st graders and 59 percent of Spanish-speaking 3rd graders received native-language instruction, whereas only 16 percent of 1st graders and 11 percent of 3rd graders from other linguistic minorities received the same type of instruction.

Carmen Simich-Dudgeon, the director of research and evaluation for the Education Department’s office of bilingual education and minority-languages affairs, presented these findings at the annual conference of the National Association for Bilingual Education. She mentioned that her office is likely to release several more studies in the near future to gather information that can help support the reauthorization of the federal Bilingual Education Act in 1993. One of the issues her office will specifically focus on is the shortage of bilingual teachers, which has been a subject of concern in recent years. Ms. Simich-Dudgeon believes that statistical evidence of this shortage can be used to advocate for more federal funding for bilingual education.

The research findings presented by Ms. Simich-Dudgeon came from the National Longitudinal Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Services for Languages Minority, Limited-English-Proficient Students, which took place from 1982 to 1989. The study followed students from 86 schools in 18 districts across 10 states with significant concentrations of LEP students. It began with 5,800 1st graders and 4,500 3rd graders from various language minorities, but due to data collection problems and the removal of children from LEP programs, the study ultimately focused on 1,768 children from the 1st-grade group and 1,423 from the 3rd-grade group, all of whom were Hispanic.

Despite its limitations, the study was able to provide valuable insights into the availability, nature, and effectiveness of instructional services for LEP students. It found that 97 percent of districts with LEP students in grades K-6 offered special instructional services for them. However, almost half of the schools studied only used a single criterion, such as oral-language-proficiency tests, to determine LEP program placements. This approach contradicted district policies and research findings on best practices for determining placements.

A study was conducted on LEP (Limited English Proficient) students in grades K-6 to assess their integration into all-English-speaking classrooms. The study found that 20% of LEP students were mainstreamed during a year. However, the proportion of students reassigned to mainstream settings varied significantly based on the representation of language minorities in specific schools.

Schools with fewer than 50 LEP students mainstreamed an average of 61% of these pupils, while schools with more than 50 LEP students mainstreamed only 14 to 20%. The study also discovered that LEP students who received special instruction to enhance English-language-arts achievement were more likely to be reassigned to regular classrooms.

When examining LEP students’ achievement in English-language arts and mathematics, the researchers found that performance gains were not attributed to any single instructional method but rather to various approaches that considered students’ proficiency levels in English.

The study summary suggests that LEP students with a relatively high level of English proficiency benefit from English-language-arts instruction and using English in other subject-area instruction. On the other hand, students with low English proficiency and strong native-language skills thrive when their native language is used to facilitate English acquisition.

For younger students, yearly gains in mathematics performance were more likely when instruction was primarily in English or when additional English-language skill instruction was provided in conjunction with native-language math instruction. However, in the later grades, students did not improve in math achievement until they had gained some mastery of the English language, regardless of the language in which math was taught to them.

Additional findings from the research summary include:

– LEP students were primarily in schools with English-speaking children, making up an average of only 12% of the K-6 population in schools. Only 11% of schools had LEP students accounting for more than 30% of their K-6 students.

– LEP students experienced economic disadvantages, with 91% being eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, compared to 47% of all students in the same schools. They were also academically disadvantaged, performing below grade level in math, English skills, and native-language skills in the 1st and 3rd grades.

– Nearly 70% of all LEP students studied resided in five states, with California, Texas, and New York having the highest percentages.

– The Education Department is planning to collaborate with the National Academy of Sciences to review the study’s methodologies and reanalyze the data in conjunction with findings from another bilingual education study.

– OBEMLA (Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs) is conducting additional studies related to concerns raised by the National Longitudinal Evaluation, including an examination of bilingual education and English as a second language teacher training programs and the shortage of bilingual teachers.