Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

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included at the school level. In addition, the percentage of core academic classes taught by highly qualified teachers was not included in this analysis due to the structure of the variable, which made it unusable for this type of analysis. For more detailed information about model development and variable selection, please see Appendix 1: Methods and Appendix 4: Additional HLM Results. Key Results The results of the HLM analysis support the findings of the descriptive analysis presented in this report and in other academic research. First of all it underscores the importance of language proficiency as a key factor in the achievement of LEP students in Boston. There was a positive relationship between MEPA scores and MCAS scores in both ELA and Math. This means that as a student’s level of English proficiency increases, his or her MCAS scores in both English and Math also tend to increase. In fact, MEPA scores were the single most important indicator of achievement on MCAS testing among the variables included in this analysis. This relationship was statistically significant at all three levels of schooling and across both subject areas. The other key result of the analysis is the relationship between SPED placement and educational attainment. SPED placement was the second most important indicator of achievement on MCAS testing among the variables included in this analysis. This relationship was significant at all three levels of schooling in MCAS Math, and in elementary and middle school in MCAS ELA, with LEP students in special education programs tending to have lower MCAS scores than LEP students who are not. SPED placement was the second most important indicator of achievement on MCAS testing among the variables included in this analysis. It is important to remember that this analysis does not establish causation, only a relationship. In other words, the reason for the students’ lower performance is not known; the lower academic performance could be related to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the appropriateness of the placement, the quality of the programming available, or an underlying medical condition. However, this finding is important in light of the results of the descriptive analysis of enrollment that documented a significant increase in assigning LEP students to SPED programs without a clear indication that appropriate assessments were conducted to motivate the transfers. In terms of program participation, the HLM analysis supports the descriptive findings that there is not a consistent difference between the academic achievements of LEP students in ELL programs in comparison to LEP students who are not in ELL programs. In ELA testing there was no significant difference between LEP students in ELL programs and those not in ELL programs at any level of schooling. This was also true in MCAS Math testing in middle school and in elementary school SEI programs. However, as described earlier, LEP students in ELL programs outperformed LEP students not in ELL programs in high school on MCAS Math testing, as did LEP students in non-SEI ELL programs (e.g., Two-Way Bilingual and SIFE) in elementary school. 82 Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools
Results: English Language Arts In addition to the results above, the two other variables representing individual characteristics, attendance rate and gender, demonstrated a statistically significant relationship with MCAS ELA scores at the high school level. 7 There is a positive relationship between attendance rate and MCAS ELA scores, with scores tending to increase as attendance increases. The relationship between gender and ELA achievement is also significant, with female students tending to perform better on MCAS ELA tests than male students. Of the four variables representing school environment, only two demonstrated a statistically significant relationship with ELA achievement: Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in ELA and the percentage of the school’s population that is low-income. Elementary and middle school LEP students who attend schools that have demonstrated AYP in ELA have higher MCAS ELA scores on average than LEP students who attend schools that have not demonstrated AYP in ELA. 8 In middle school, as the proportion of low-income students at a school increases, MCAS scores in ELA tend to decrease. 9 The remaining two variables representing school environment – school size and the percentage of a given school’s population that consists of LEP students – did not have a statistically significant relationship with MCAS ELA scores at any level of schooling. Results: Math In addition to the results presented in the previous sections, the other two variables representing individual characteristics – attendance rate and gender – also show statistically significant relationships with math attainment at all schooling levels. The relationship between attendance and MCAS Math scores is positive, with students with higher attendance rates tending to demonstrate higher levels of math attainment. The relationship between gender and math attainment indicates that males tend to perform better than females on MCAS Math testing at all levels of schooling. Among the four variables that represent school environment, only AYP in Math demonstrates a statistically significant relationship with MCAS Math scores. The relationship is positive, with students attending schools that have demonstrated AYP in Math tending to achieve higher MCAS Math scores than students who attend schools that have not. There is no statistically significant relationship between MCAS Math outcomes and the percentage of the school population that is made up of low-income students, the size of the school, or the percentage of the school population that is made up of LEP students. Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools 83
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Center for Collaborative Education
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This report, Improving Educational
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VII. DROPPING OUT 48 A. What Are th
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CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
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Language Learners (OELL) has attemp
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CHAPTER II. THE STUDY
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epresented by the blocks in differe
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Table 2. Variables, Definitions, an
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CHAPTER III. ENROLLMENT AND CHARACT
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Figure 1. Change in Enrollment of S
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Native speakers of Haitian Creole a
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In Sum Following a swift decline in
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One of the foci of this study is th
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School Poverty Rate. Income status
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ed a significantly smaller proporti
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In Sum In this chapter we focused o
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One of the deepest and most far-rea
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the transfer of large numbers of LE
Page 37 and 38: education. There are no studies of
Page 39 and 40: IN DEPTH: Enrollment of English Lan
Page 41 and 42: Table 14. Nature of Primary Disabil
Page 43 and 44: choices. From the data gathered, it
Page 45 and 46: Becoming fully literate in English,
Page 47 and 48: Populations focused upon in this an
Page 49 and 50: Table 19. English Proficiency Level
Page 51 and 52: who attained the level of English p
Page 53 and 54: ed among those LEP students scoring
Page 55 and 56: High dropout rates among Boston Pub
Page 57 and 58: B What Is the Annual High School Dr
Page 59 and 60: C What Are the Rates of Attendance,
Page 61 and 62: Table 26. Median Attendance Rates o
Page 63 and 64: Table 29. Attendance, Out-of-School
Page 65 and 66: Table 31. Annual High School Dropou
Page 67 and 68: In Sum This chapter has focused on
Page 69 and 70: The tests of the Massachusetts Comp
Page 71 and 72: student achievement (Rumberger, 199
Page 73 and 74: Table 34. MCAS Math Pass Rates of S
Page 75 and 76: Table 36. MCAS ELA, Math, and Scien
Page 77 and 78: Pass Rates in MCAS ELA, Math, and S
Page 79 and 80: IN DEPTH: Attendance Rates of MCAS
Page 81 and 82: portions of core academic courses t
Page 83 and 84: D What are the MCAS ELA and Math Pa
Page 85 and 86: LEP Students at MEPA Performance Le
Page 87: school that they attend; if student
Page 91 and 92: 1 Massachusetts meets the requireme
Page 93 and 94: A Overall Findings and General Reco
Page 95 and 96: Designation as student with a disab
Page 97 and 98: B Specific Findings and Recommendat
Page 99 and 100: Recommendation 7: Parents of LEP st
Page 101 and 102: Recommendation 14: Monitor indicato
Page 103 and 104: (2) We found instances in which stu
Page 105 and 106: Recommendation 30: The quality of i
Page 107 and 108: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (201
Page 109 and 110: Nathan, J., & Thao, S. (2007). Smal
Page 111 and 112: Vaznis, J. (2011, Sept. 18). US fin
Page 113 and 114: Overview The report sought to answe
Page 115 and 116: Table 1. Variables, Definitions and
Page 117 and 118: In TBE learn solely in English. In
Page 119 and 120: Table 2: Variables, Definitions and
Page 121 and 122: ! ! ! 5. Limitations of the Data Wh
Page 123 and 124: Table 8: MCAS ELA Pass Rates of LEP
Page 125 and 126: Table 10. Variables Considered in H
Page 127 and 128: APPENDIX 2: Additional Tables and F
Page 129 and 130: ! Table 3.2. Characteristics of Eng
Page 131 and 132: ! ! Table 6.3. English Proficiency
Page 133 and 134: ! Table 7.3. Attendance, Out-of-Sch
Page 135 and 136: ! ! ! Figure 8.3. Science Pass Rate
Page 137 and 138: Table 8.2. MCAS Math Pass Rates for
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APPENDIX 3: Characteristics and Out
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! ! ! ! ! ! Table 4. MCAS ELA and M
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A discussion of our HLM analyses of
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ELA scores on average than LEP stud
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Improving Educational Outcomes of E
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