Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

Table 10. Characteristics of LEP Students Changing Program Enrollment from in an ELL Program to
Not in an ELL Program. BPS, SY2006-SY2007
Total Making Change 2,536
% Male 58.5%
% Low Income 1 87.3%
Native Language
% Spanish 59.3%
% Cape Verdean Creole 6.2%
% Chinese languages 6.3%
% Haitian Creole 8.1%
% Portuguese 2.0%
% Somali 1.8%
% Vietnamese 6.3%
% Other languages 9.9%
English Language Proficiency 2
% MEPA Level 1 5.1%
% MEPA Level 2 13.6%
% MEPA Level 3 38.5%
% MEPA Level 4 42.8%
% Mobile 3 6.1%
% SWD 4 42.0%
Note: Red indicates those characteristics where there is over-representation relative to the overall
LEP population; 1 Percent eligible for free or reduced price lunch; 2 The Massachusetts English
Proficiency Assessment is a test of English language proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and
speaking required of all LEP students in Massachusetts. In SY2006, it provided results in 4 levels
of performance (see Chapter VI for a fuller discussion of MEPA); 3 Percent of students who
changed schools between October and June of a given school year; 4 Percent designated as a
student with disabilities (SWD). Includes only students ages 6+ in K-12.
almost recovered through new enrollments and
changes in de-designation. But that year, the second
decline took place when 2,536 LEP students in
ELL programs were transferred into general education
programs, causing ELL programs to, again, lose
one-third of its students. In this change, general
education programs grew while ELL programs
declined.
Table 10 shows characteristics of the students making
the transfer away from programs for ELLs between
SY2006 and SY2007. This transfer accounted
for 91.0% of the total decline in LEP students in
ELL programs observed in that period; the rest was
due to transfers, dropouts, and graduations. Of
the 2,536 students who transferred, 54.6% were in
Grade 3 or lower. The largest proportion of the students
who transferred (42.8%) were at the higher
levels of English proficiency (Level 4) although close
to 20% were at MEPA Levels 1 and 2 (Table 10). 7
Of the LEP students transferred out of ELL programs
in SY2007, 42% were students who were designated
as LEP-SWDs. Of the latter, the majority (93.4%)
were students who were previously designated
LEP-SWD and were attending ELL programs. Relative
to the characteristics of the overall enrollment
of ELLs in BPS, these transferring students show
over-representation of males, of Spanish and Vietnamese
speakers, of students at the highest MEPA
performance levels, and the proportion designated
as SWDs.
32 Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools