Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

In Sum
In this chapter we focused on the distribution of
LEP students across schools of different types,
analyzing first their enrollment in different types of
schools and second the significance of demographic
factors in their distribution across different types
of schools. We found that LEP student enrollment
shows several risk factors. First of all, we find
that LEP students are overwhelming enrolled in a
high-poverty schools (81.6%), at a much higher
rate than English proficient students (60.1%),
compounding the effects of individual student
poverty in this population. Secondly, we find that
they are overwhelmingly enrolled in schools that did
not meet accountability status in ELA (77.5%) or in
Math (85.0%). These factors sharply differentiate
the experience of LEPs students in BPS from that of
English proficient students.
On the positive side, we find that LEP students in
Boston are not segregated or highly concentrated:
88.4% are in schools with less 50% LEP density.
LEP students also tend to be enrolled in schools
where a high proportion of core courses are taught
by highly qualified teachers (72.9%).
We found also that two variables have broad significance
in the distribution of students across schools
of different characteristics: students’ MEPA performance
level and their designation as a LEP-SWD.
MEPA performance level, particularly performance
at the lower levels, was found to be significant in
the distribution of students across schools showing
all of the characteristics considered here. Designation
as a LEP-SWD was also found to have broad
significance in the distribution of students in
schools of lower LEP densities and where a lower
proportion of teachers are licensed in their teaching
assignment. Other variables, such as mobility and
income, were also found to be significant but they
did not show the breadth of impact of the other
two variables.
1 See Boston Public School’s Office of High School:
www.highschoolrenewal.org/carnegieproposal.pdf
and www.highschoolrenewal.org/gatesproposal.pdf
(Accessed December 2007)
2 There remains debate about the impact of the size of
schools on children’s academic success. Stevenson
(2006) analyzes this debate in his statewide assessment
of the effects of school size in north Carolina.
3 Other options for categorizing LEP density appear in
Parrish et al. (2006) and Williams et al. (2007).
4 MDESE (n.d., b)
5 Though the differences described in this section were
found to be statistically significant, the effect size
tended to be minimal.
Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools 25