Moving the needle for ever-ELs?: advanced math course taking and college enrollment

ABSTRACT

STEM preparation – especially high school math course-taking – is a key predictor of college entrance. Previous research suggests that high school English learners (ELs) not only take fewer advanced math courses but also enroll in college at much lower rates than non-ELs – a group that includes former ELs. In the present study, we alter the analytic lens to examine whether ever-EL status, i.e. ever being identified for and receiving EL services, moderates the relationship between advanced math and college enrollment. Essentially, do ever-EL students experience the same boost to college enrollment from advanced math as their peers? We employ multilevel models to analyze statewide, longitudinal, administrative K–12 and higher education data to examine how ever-EL status and advanced math – and the interaction between the two – predict high school graduation, college application and enrollment, and level of college attended. Results show that both measures are associated with a greater likelihood of graduating from high school, applying to a four-year college, and enrolling in any college. We also find that ever-EL status moderates the relationship between advanced math and college enrollment, with important implications for students’ access to four-year colleges. Ultimately, ever-EL students experience different returns on advanced math relative to never-ELs.

KEYWORDS:

• Ever-EL
• STEM
• secondary education
• advanced math
• college enrollment
• bachelor’s
• community college

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Greater Texas Foundation, Funded Project (Project #7497) English Learner Status and Postsecondary Outcomes: Exploring Patterns and Policy Levers to Close Gaps. In addition, the authors were supported by grant P2CHD042849, Population Research Center, awarded to the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Opinions reflect those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the granting agencies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Attrition rates by 9^th grade for the two groups differed; the never-EL rate was slightly higher (9%) than that of ever-ELs (5.6%).

² This approach allows us to include students who are missing on some of their elementary or middle school years.

³ This variable is technically “LEP: Limited English Proficient” status, the term used by state and federal education departments prior to the passage of ESSA (2015) which adopted the term English Learner (EL). In this manuscript, we use the term EL to (1) reflect the legal designation of the students by the school system, (2) align with federal and state education policy, as well as current research and (3) avoid the deficit ideology inherent in the term “LEP”

⁴ In addition, Algebra II was a high school graduation requirement at the time our cohorts would have been enrolled in high school; however, the state dropped it in 2014.

⁵ Disaggregated, 92% of ever-ELs and 3% of never-ELs spoke Spanish at home for an overall rate of 25% of the total analytic sample.

⁶ The holistic assessment elements of the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) were adopted in 2003–04. TELPAS originally consisted of common district tools: local oral (often the SOLOM) and writing assessments, as well as the Texas Reading Proficiency Test in English (RPTE). The state would later revise and standardize the TELPAS beginning in 2013, after most of our sample would have exited high school. https://tea.texas.gov/system/files/digest09-chap07.pdf

⁷ For ease of interpretation, all figures present uncentered Ever-EL status.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [0000-0002-6928-4852]; Greater Texas Foundation .