K-12 Education: Student, Teacher, and School Characteristics Associated with English Learners' Academic Performance
Fast Facts
In the U.S., students whose native language isn't English may have academic trouble in school, where the instruction is primarily delivered in English. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of students learning English grew from 4.5 to 5 million in K-12 schools.
Our Q&A report examines the student, teacher, and school characteristics associated with these students' academic performance.
For example, having positive feelings about school and being female were associated with higher reading scores. Overcrowded classrooms and high rates of teacher absences were associated with lower reading and math scores and less progress toward English proficiency.
Highlights
What GAO Found
English learners—most of whom were born in the U.S.—are a diverse and growing group of students. Between fall 2010 and fall 2020, English learners in U.S. public schools grew from 4.5 million to 5.0 million students. They speak more than 400 languages and represent a wide range of cultures, grade levels, experiences, and backgrounds.
GAO's multivariate regression analyses of three Department of Education (Education) data sets identified a variety of student, teacher, and school characteristics associated with English learners' academic performance and progress towards English proficiency.
- Student characteristics: Characteristics including a student's school experience, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics were associated with how they performed. For example, having positive feelings about school, being Asian, and being female were associated with higher reading scores. In contrast, feeling disconnected from school, frequent absences, having a disability, and being economically disadvantaged were associated with lower reading scores.
- Teacher characteristics: For some student groups, having a teacher of the same ethnicity was associated with higher scores in math or reading. Overcrowded classrooms and high levels of teacher absences were significantly associated with lower reading and math scores and less progress towards English proficiency.
- School characteristics: Characteristics such as school size and socioeconomic composition were associated with English learners' academic performance and progress toward English proficiency. Over time, schools with higher percentages of students enrolled in dual language immersion English instruction were associated with slightly higher rates of growth in reading scores.
Why GAO Did This Study
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce asked GAO to examine the academic achievement of English learners.
Education provides supplemental funding to states to help ensure that English learners attain English proficiency and can meet the same academic standards that all children are expected to meet. As part of its oversight duties, Education collects state, national, and longitudinal data on English learners. To do this work, GAO conducted multivariate regressions using three data sources to explore which student, teacher, and school characteristics were associated with English learners' performance. Regressions are a statistical method that explores whether a relationship exists between two or more variables of interest. For example, a regression can look at whether a relationship exists between poverty and reading scores, while accounting for other factors that may affect the scores.
Data Sources on English Learner Performance
| Population Covered | Years | Analysis level | Performance indicator(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student | Teacher | School | ||||
| EDFacts (State reading and English proficiency assessments) | All K-12 public schools | 2018, 2019, 2021 | X |
Percent of students proficient in English Percent making progress towards English proficiency |
||
| National Assessment of Educational Progress (National assessments) | Sample of 4th and 8th grade students | 2019 | X | X | X | Score on national reading and math assessments |
|
Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey (Longitudinal study) |
Sample cohort of kindergartners through fifth grade (2010-11 cohort) | 2010-2016 | X | X | X | Growth in reading score over time |
Source: GAO summary of information from the U.S. Department of Education, The National Center for Education Statistics, within the department’s Institute of Education Sciences. | GAO-24-106360
For more information, contact Jacqueline M. Nowicki at (202) 512-7215 or NowickiJ@gao.gov.