State Report Card Round-Up: Reporting on English Learners' Outcomes

Thursday, August 29, 2019Printer-friendly version

This brief focuses on whether outcomes are being reported for English Learners (ELs), and compares outcomes for ELs on select indicators (graduation rate and postsecondary enrollment) because the outcomes data being reported across states on certain indicators vary so widely that it makes cross-state comparisons challenging, if not impossible. Particularly on English Language Proficiecy, states differ in reporting proficiency vs. progress/growth, the assessment they use, whether data is disaggregated by grade level or combined to show all grades, to name a few. On academic achievement, this brief will only provide insight on how EL students perform on college and career readiness assessments in 18 states and the District of Columbia, because the assessments given to students and the data they provide in the remaining 32 states vary widely enough that cross-state comparisons cannot be performed. Being able to compare student outcome data across states is important, because it creates opportunities to see how well students or specific student groups are performing compared to their counterparts in peer states.