Contextualizing the Vast and Varying Landscape of Secondary EL Programs and Services
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Date
2021-09-13
Authors
Lloyd, Brant
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Despite a large and growing population of English learner (EL) students in middle and high schools, research on EL education has focused on elementary grade services, with very little understanding of how ELs are served in the secondary grades. Drawing on a National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) survey, this dissertation offers a national exploratory descriptive study of the programs and services available to secondary English learners and the relationships of those programs and services to key contextual factors of district enrollment size, community type (urban, rural, etc.), region, and English learner density. The study also analyzed combinations of EL educational services in districts with more than 100 English learners. Data for 1,161 school districts across the country were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, chi-square tests, and combinations of concatenated variables to describe the variation in educational contexts of reception for English learners in secondary education and to find how those contexts relate specifically to the aforementioned contextual factors. Results provide a national landscape of secondary EL programs and services that serves as a reference for future decisions regarding policy and programs that may best serve the needs of an ever-increasing population of English learners spanning the spectrum of district demographics.
Description
Keywords
Comprehensive services, Contextual factors, English learner, High school, Programs and services, Secondary education