Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

Table 29. Attendance, Out-of-School Suspension and Retention Rates of LEP Students of Different English
Proficiency Levels and Different Grade Levels. BPS, SY2009.
LEP MEPA Test Takers
EP LEP
Levels 1 & 2 Level 3 Levels 4 & 5
Median Attendance5, 6
All1 94.4% 95.5% 94.4% 95.5% 96.7%
Elementary School2 95.0% 96.1% 94.4% 95.6% 96.7%
Middle School3 95.4% 95.0% 95.0% 95.6% 96.1%
High School4 92.5% 92.8% 92.7% 94.4% 95.0%
Out-of-School Suspension7, 8
All1 6.3% 3.8% 3.9% 3.8% 3.7%
Elementary School2 3.3% 2.0% 1.7% 2.0% 2.3%
Middle School3 12.0% 10.6% 11.6% 11.2% 10.1%
High School4 6.4% 2.9% 3.4% 2.6% 2.0%
Retention (SY2008-SY2009) 9,10
All1 6.5% 9.5% 18.5% 9.1% 3.5%
Elementary School2 4.1% 6.0% 11.3% 7.4% 3.1%
Middle School3 4.5% 5.0% 7.6% 4.2% 3.0%
High School4 10.3% 20.9% 43.8% 16.2% 5.5%
Note: 1 Includes K-12; 2 Includes grades K-5. 3 Includes grades 6, 7 and 8. 4 Includes grades 9-12. 5 The statistics for the
differences in the median attendance rate among all students and students scoring at different MEPA levels appear in Table 26. 6
Difference in median attendance rates between EP and LEP students are only significant at the elementary school level (p=.000).
Differences in median attendance rates across students at different levels of English proficiency were found to be significant at
elementary (MEPA L1&2 vs. other, p=.000; MEPA L3 vs. other, p=.001; and MEPA L4&5 vs. other, p=.000); middle (MEPA L1&2
vs. other, p=.007; MEPA L3 vs. other, p=.027; and MEPA L4&5 vs. other, p=.000); and high school grade levels ( MEPA L1&2
vs. other, p=.000; MEPA L3 vs. other, p=.002; and MEPA L4&5 vs. other, p=.000). 7 The statistics for the differences in out-ofschool
suspension rates among all students and students scoring at different English proficiency levels appear in Table 27. 8
Difference in out-of school-suspensions between EP and LEP students at different grade levels are significant at the elementary
and high school levels (p=.000, minimal effect size). Differences in out-of school-suspensions across LEPs scoring at different
English proficiency levels were not found to be significant at any grade level. 9 The statistics for the differences in retention rates
among all students and LEP students scoring at different English proficiency levels appear in Table 28. 10 Difference in retention
between EP and LEP students at different grade levels are significant at the elementary and high school levels (p=.000, minimal
and small effect size, respectively). Differences in retention across English proficiency groups at different grade levels were
among elementary school students (MEPA L1&2 vs. other, p=.000, small effect size; MEPA L3 vs. other, p=.000, minimal effect
size; and MEPA L4&5 vs. other, p=.000, small effect size); among middle (MEPA L1&2 vs. other, p=.005, minimal effect size;
MEPA L4&5 vs. other, p=.033, minimal effect size); and high school students (MEPA L1&2 vs. other, p=.000, medium effect size;
MEPA L4&5 vs. other, p=.000, small effect size),
Comparisons of the retention rate of LEP students
along demographic variables show that the differences
in the retention rates between males and
females, low and not low income, mobile and
stable, and SWD and not SWD are all significant but
with minimal effect size. Males had a higher rate
of retention than did females, and higher-income
students had almost twice the retention rate of
lower-income students. Similarly large and significant
differences can be found among mobile and
stable LEP students and among students at different
levels of English proficiency, as measured by MEPA
performance levels. Among the latter, LEP students
at MEPA Levels 1 and 2 were retained in grade
three times more frequently than students at MEPA
Levels 4 and 5 and twice as frequently as students
at MEPA Level 3. The highest rates of retention
among LEP students can be found among Somali,
Haitian Creole, and Cape Verdean Creole speakers.
Among all LEP students, the highest rates of retention
took place among high school students, where
at 20.9%, their rates were three times those of
elementary school students and four times those of
LEP students in middle school. The same pattern
is observable among English proficient students
but with much less intensity. It is also observable
across all levels of English proficiency among LEP
students but at an extreme particularly among LEP
high school students in scoring at Levels 1 and 2 of
MEPA: among them the rate of retention is 43.8%.
The data and analysis of retention rates by grade
and language proficiency appear in Table 29.
Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools 57