Equal Access To Educational Opportunities In Texas: An Analysis Of English Language Learner Programs

This study examined the costs, classifications and identifications, and policies which impacted educational programs that served immigrant and English language learners in Texas. This researcher examined the problem of English Language Acquisition through the lens of outcomes of elementary school students enrolled in seven independent school districts in Texas. Public domain documents related to English language learner programs designed to ensure equal access to educational opportunities necessitated an examination of reading outcomes for elementary school students that produced three major themes were viewed through the lens of the three research questions which guided this study. The first research question investigated the guidelines developed by the U.S. Department of Education and English language learner programs in seven of Texas’ public school systems supported the findings of appropriations and expenses, student enrollment and classifications, and the implementation of statewide policies and procedures in alignment with the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015). The second research question examined how elementary school students enrolled in English language learner programs outcomes compared to non-English language learners in elementary schools within the seven public school systems in Texas and found that reading level outcomes for English language learners in grades three, four, and five were lower than the district reading levels in five of the seven school systems during 2016-17. However, during the 2017-18 fiscal year third-grade English language learners either improved at higher or equal to all third-grade students. This researcher also found that third, fourth, and fifth grade English language learners consistently performed between four and ten points higher than one district. Moreover, the emerging patterns and themes extrapolated and identified through this document analysis of English language learner programs in Texas reflected the legal requirements of the Equal Protection Clause of the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015), Texas Education Code, and local school district policies