San Francisco Field Site

Current Research Collaborations

• What are the malleable factors that influence outcomes of English Language Learners?
  

Nationally, English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the K-12 population. More than one in five school-age children in the US speak a language other than English at home, and California is home to roughly one-third of all ELL students in the US. Academic outcomes for ELL students in California lag well behind those of native English speakers just as they do nationally. ELL students have, on average, lower grades, lower scores on standardized tests, and higher dropout rates than their English-speaking peers (Gandara & Contreras, 2009; Moss & Puma, 1995; Reardon & Galindo, 2009). Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show that ELL students in grades 4-12 score 1.0-1.3 standard deviations below non- ELL students in reading and 0.9-1.2 standard deviations below non-ELL students in math. These gaps are considerably larger than the black-white test score gap (Reardon & Robinson, 2007). Fewer than one in five ELL students is meeting state standards in reading in English (Kindler, 2002).

Given the size of the ELL population in California and the need to educate ELL students to high standards, it is urgent that we identify effective instructional practices for ELL students. Educators and policymakers need more and better information about how to improve the educational outcomes of ELL students. This research aims to further that research agenda and provide meaningful, applicable information on what factors contribute to ELL success in school.

Sean Reardon of Stanford University will join the existing SERP-SFUSD field site partners as they, investigate the association between the type of instruction ELL students receive and their subsequent academic outcomes and English proficiency. The project will primarily investigate the relative impacts (or associations) of four types of ELL instructional pathways (bilingual, dual immersion, English immersion, and newcomer pathways). In addition, the project will explore a number of related questions regarding how, why, for whom, and under what conditions different ELL instructional programs are effective.  Instructional programs for ELL students vary in many ways – not only in terms of the language of instruction. In particular four aspects of ELL programs that are at least partly under the control of a school district may influence the effectiveness of the programs at meeting the goals of English proficiency and academic mastery: a) program type and curriculum; b) student composition (e.g. students’ linguistic and ethnic heterogeneity); c) teacher skills and characteristics; and d) school climate and characteristics. Differences among programs in these characteristics may explain some of the variation in academic outcomes of ELL students.

For this collaboration we will use San Francisco Unified School District administrative data over an eleven-year period from fall 2001 to spring 2012. The project will primarily be based on analysis of longitudinal student, teacher, and school data.

Co-Principal Investigators

Ritu Khanna (SFUSD)
Sean Reardon (Stanford)
Suzanne Donovan (SERP)

Team Members:

Kevin Chavez (SFUSD)
Veronica Chavez (SFUSD)
Phil Daro (SERP)
Jennifer Fong (SFUSD)
Kenji Hakuta (Stanford)
Kirsten Kainz (SERP)
Kan Kan (SFUSD)
Stephen Kelley (SFUSD)
Janice Link (SFUSD)
Milbrey McLaughlin (Stanford)
Elaine Mo (SERP)
Kitty Ou (SFUSD)
Karen Tran (SERP)
Ilana Umansky (Stanford)
Rachel Valentino (Stanford)
Sherry Vaughn (SFUSD)
Christina Wong (SFUSD)
Matt Wayne (SFUSD)