Long-term English Learners: An Examination of Student Characteristics That Impact Time to English Proficiency

Background: The number of students identified as English learners (ELs) has grown to over 1,000,000 in Texas and to more than 5,000,000, nation-wide. A growing sub-group within the EL population is categorized as long-term English learners (LTELs); ELs who have been enrolled in U.S. schools for 5 or more years and have not been reclassified as English proficient. Of particular concern are LTELs who do not advance past a beginning or intermediate level of proficiency according to the Results Driven Accountability report. Purpose: This study sought to analyze student and program characteristics that could potentially impact English learners’ time to English language proficiency and the probability of becoming long-term ELs. To examine these variables, this study focused on the following research questions: 1) How long does it take English learners to become proficient in English as measured by TELPAS? 2) To what degree are student and program characteristics predictive of time to proficiency? 3) What is the contribution of student and program characteristics to the probability that a student will be designated a long-term English learner? Does the presence of a learning disability over and above these other individual difference variables increase the risk that a student will be designated as a long-term English learner? Methods: A quantitative study was conducted using eight years of cross-sectional and longitudinal data to examine time to proficiency and the probability of becoming an LTEL. Basic descriptive statistics were used to compute the mean and central tendency of time to English language proficiency. A Multiple Regression model with robust standard errors was used to analyze the probability that student and program characteristics could be determined to be predictors of time to proficiency. A logistic regression approach was used to examine the contribution of student and program characteristics to the probability that a student will be designated a long-term English learner and whether the presence of a learning disability over and above these other individual difference variables increases the risk that a student will be designated as a long-term English learner. Results: The results generated by this analysis demonstrate that there is a positive relationship between student and program characteristics and time to proficiency. The analysis revealed that participation in bilingual or ESL programs, non-participation, economically disadvantaged status, and participation in special education were statistically significant predictors of time to proficiency and the probability of becoming a long-term EL (p = <.001) and that the presence of a learning disability over and above these other individual difference variables increased the risk that a student will be designated as a long-term English learner. Conclusion: Making systemic changes to positively impact and improve the education of English learners requires the collaborative effort of district and campus instructional leaders. Therefore, it is vital to provide critical stakeholders timely support and relevant professional learning opportunities to build upon their existing knowledge and gain the necessary competencies to improve current practices