This brief explores the characteristics of the high schools that newcomer students choose to attend in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Using data from the 2007–2008 through 2018–2019 school years, the study compares the high school enrollment patterns between newcomer students who attended Las Americas, a school dedicated to serving newcomer middle school students, and newcomer students from other HISD middle schools.
Newcomer programs aim to serve newly arrived immigrant students by providing specialized instruction and nonacademic support beyond what is offered in traditional English learner classrooms. In Houston ISD, Las Americas is a standalone program that serves newcomer students in grades 4–8. Given the growth of newly arrived immigrant students in the district, it is important to understand what characteristics predict whether students and families choose to enroll in a newcomer program.
This brief examines the outcomes of high school-aged newcomer students—recently arrived immigrant English learners—in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Data from the 2007-2008 through 2018-2019 school years show that newcomer students who attended Liberty High School upon arrival in the U.S. had similar levels of academic performance outcomes to their newcomer peers who attended other high schools in HISD.
This brief evaluates the causal effect of attending Las Americas Middle School on newcomer students’ early high school outcomes. Using administrative data from the Houston Independent School District (HISD) spanning the 2007–2008 through 2018–2019 school years, the study examined the academic performance, course-taking patterns, and school engagement of newcomer students who did and did not attend Las Americas. Attending Las Americas increased newcomer students’ English end-of-course (EOC) exam scores and decreased students’ likelihood of receiving disciplinary actions.
This study examined English language acquisition among newcomer students in HISD between the 20072008 and 2018-2019 school years. Outcomes examined in the study include end-of-year English proficiency exam scores (TELPAS), reclassification, and course-taking data. To address its research questions, the study focused on cohorts of newcomer students in sixth through eighth grades who arrived in HISD between the 2007-2008 and 2017-2018 school years. Student outcomes were examined through the 2018-2019 school year.
Federal law requires states to develop systems to hold K-12 schools accountable for the outcomes of all students. This includes using data to illuminate how historically marginalized groups of students, including English Learners (ELs), are disadvantaged by systems that fail to meet their distinct needs. But for this to be useful for school improvement, policymakers, educators, and community members need to trust that the data accurately identify successes, challenges, and inequities in educational opportunities provided to students.
Collaboration between English as a Second Language (ESL) and content teachers to support multilingual students designated as English Learners is a growing but complex phenomenon in U.S. schools, and one that has continued to evolve during the pandemic and related disruptions to schooling. We draw upon ecological perspectives on language learning to consider critical questions about the relationships among collaborative practices, equity, systemic capacity, and instructional quality.
Within the Stanford-Sequoia K-12 Research Collaborative, several questions have emerged about what we know and don’t know about dually identified students. Dually identified students (also referred to as English Learners with Disabilities, ELLWD) are students who qualify for English Learner (EL) services and Special Education (SPED) services. In this research summary, we explore questions that our district partners have raised about this student subgroup to begin developing an emerging research agenda that can help guide future study designs.