New York State Responds to Low English Language Learner Graduate Rates

A recent report by the Latino Educational Advocacy Directors (LEAD) Coalition calls attention to the distressing graduation rates of New York State’s English language learners (ELLs)[1]: in 2017, the four-year dropout rate for ELLs across the state was 30% while only 27% graduated in that same four year period.

And while the percentage of ELLs across New York State has grown nearly 20% over the last decade, the state continues to experience a nation-wide trend of inadequate supplies of teachers with the requisite knowledge and certification requirements to address ELLs’ needs. A survey conducted by the New York State School Boards Association found that one in five superintendents reported a shortage in teachers qualified to provide English as a New Language (ENL) instruction.

In response to this growing ENL teacher shortfall, The New York State Education Department responded with a new plan to help provide additional support to the growing ELL population across the state. Under the new regulations, which will not take effect until 2020, of the six semester hours in language acquisition and literacy development required currently, three of those semester hours will need to address not just language acquisition and literacy development generally, but language acquisition and literacy development for ELLs specifically.

In providing a rationale for this policy shift, Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa said. “Courses in language acquisition and literacy development will help young teachers meet the particular needs of these students and build on the success we are seeing in New York’s ELL programs,” (see Chalkbeat article covering the story).

Such changes build off of a string of other policy changes falling under the Commissioners Regulation Part 154 revised, which sought to improve ELL outcomes across the state by increasing school-wide support for ELLs in mainstream classrooms.

Staffing Priorities, Appreciation for Student Needs, Professional Development, and Pathways to Rigor: Four Odds-beater Lessons

Prior NYKids studies of elementary schools that beat the odds for ELL literacy and math outcomes found that four elements were of high import and shared among these unusually successful schools:

1) A welcoming school climate in a culture that emphasizes high expectations and equitable access to rigorous curricula;

2) Inclusive, individualized, and culturally responsive practices offered by skilled and dedicated ENL and other educators and support staff;

3) Team configurations and communications to serve ELLs and their families;

4) A holistic approach to leadership and capacity building for ELLs’ success.

Returning to this same focus on ELLs in the most recent NYKids College and Career Readiness study we asked: How are leaders and teachers beating the odds for graduation outcomes among ELL youth?

Freeport and Port Chester from the odds-beater sample are of particular interest.

With ELL populations well-above the 9% state average, Freeport (16%) and Port Chester (18%) share the following priorities and practices.

1. Priorities for Staffing

No simple task, odds-beating leaders redoubled their efforts to find and retain multilingual and/or dually-certified (e.g. certified in a content area as well as ENL or Bilingual Education) teachers who exhibit the sensibilities, knowledge, and skills to effectively engage ELLs.

“We not only look for ESL and Bilingual teachers when vacancies arise. We have in our English Department right now, out of 20 or 22 English teachers, five or six who have retrained as ESL teachers. They now hold both certificates. I think one of the things that helped our students a lot is that they not only have ESL teachers that they meet with at least one or two periods a day, but the English teacher they get also may have added ESL certification. We have some combination ESL and English classes being co-taught by an English teacher plus an ESL teacher.” – Director of ENL Freeport

This effort to get the right fit of professional expertise for the ELL population served did not stop at teaching staff, but extended to counselors who provide social-emotional support in students’ native language and connect with family members as well.

The [counselors] are bilingual, they speak Spanish, and they understand [the student’s] path, and that’s huge. – teacher Freeport

2. Professional Development

For educators who are not multilingual or who lack expertise in ENL or bilingual instructional strategies, leaders provide support and encouragement to seek out professional development opportunities to learn cutting-edge instructional techniques for ELLs and share what they learn with their colleagues.

“[District leaders] want to know that you can handle this population, that you have experience with this population and have knowledge about it.” – school leader, Freeport

3. Appreciation for Student Needs

Educators at Freeport and Port Chester also seek to understand the cultural backgrounds of their students and reflect this knowledge in curricular offerings. These responsive educators also recognize the particular challenges faced by ELLs such as interruptions in their schooling or the role they play at home assisting parents.

“You can’t take anything for granted” – teacher, Port Chester

4. Pathways to Rigorous Curriculum

To create pathways for ELLs to achieve the high expectations reinforced by leaders, teachers, and staff, odds-beaters broke down the barriers and created pathways to open up college-level International Baccalaureate (IB) courses and Advanced Placement (AP).

“Oh, you’re a 74% percent Hispanic high school, how are you going to have a successful IB program?” –superintendent, Port Chester

Summary

In sum, the odds-beaters investigated in the NYKids College and Career Readiness study provide insight into ways prioritizing staff expertise and providing professional development in instruction adapted for ELLs plays into meeting ELLs’ needs.

Importantly, these odds-beaters do not stop there.

For policymakers and school leaders, these schools also provide lessons about the powerful impacts of combining a. instructional expertise, b. teacher appreciation for students’ unique needs or what can fall under the umbrella of cultural responsiveness, c. student encouragement to engage in rigorous curricula, and d. programmatic changes in concert have on student outcomes. In concert these four priorities and practices have demonstrable positive impacts on ELL student outcomes.

[1] English learners (ELs) are students whose “home” or “primary” language is not English and who have determined to be requiring English language teaching services by a proficiency identification assessment (the NYSITELL).