English Language Learners in Urban Districts Struggle on ELA MCAS exam

Below are the English Language Arts (ELA) results fro English Language Learners (ELL) students on the 2012 MCAS exam for the ten urban Commissioner's districts. The districts are listed in descending order according to their Composite Performance Index (CPI). A CPI of 100 is the equivalent of all students having achieved proficiency (proficient or advanced scores) on the exam.  More specifically, each student participating in the MCAS is given a CPI score based on well they perform on the MCAS which is later averaged among the district, school or subgroup in order to determine the overall CPI. Possible scores are 0 (Warning/Failing - Low), 25 (Warning/Failing - High), 50 (Needs Improvement - Low), 75 (Needs Improvement - High), and 100 (Proficient or Advanced). Also listed is the number of ELL students included for each district's results.

Key
Adv. = Advanced (Scores 260-280)
Prof. = Proficient (Scores 240-259)
NI = Needs Improvement (Scores 220-239)
W = Warning/Failing (Scores 200-219)

	Adv.	Prof.	NI	W	CPI	# Included
Lowell	2%	27%	43%	27%	63.3	2,633
Worcester	1%	22%	43%	34%	59.3	3,343
Boston	1%	21%	46%	32%	59.1	7,721
Brockton	1%	15%	46%	38%	53.6	1,719
Lynn	0%	13%	46%	41%	52.6	1,038
Springfield	1%	14%	41%	44%	51.3	1,953
Holyoke	0%	9%	35%	56%	49.9	792
Lawrence	0%	10%	40%	49%	47.6	1,215
Fall River	0%	8%	36%	56%	43.0	309
New Bedford	0%	4%	28%	68%	37.4	202

As the table indicates, the percentage of ELL students achieving advanced scores ranged from just 0 - 2% for all 10 districts. Lowell posted the highest CPI among these districts with a score that put its students mostly in the 'Needs Improvement' range. New Bedford was on the other end of the spectrum with a little over two-thirds of its ELL students in the 'Warning/Failing' category and no ELL students achieving an advanced score.

Citation: www.doe.mass.edu

School Enrollment Surging in Some Urban MA Districts; Overcrowding an Issue

Based on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's 2011-12 enrollment report, it appears as though a number of urban districts are experiencing a huge growth in their public school populations. Worcester, for example, grew from 24,192 students in 2010-11 to 24,411 in 2011-12 while Brockton went from 15,828 students to 16,162. Unanticipated student enrollment growth has left some of these districts to figure out how to accommodate all of their new students while keeping class sizes as low as possible. Additionally, for some schools increases in student enrollment has occurred simultaneously with increases in their limited English proficiency  population as many of the new students that urban school districts are welcoming are immigrants who speak English as a second language. This leaves some financially strapped school districts to not only have to find space for a large group of new students, but also address the added challenge of educating students with limited English language proficiency.

Overcrowding and concerns about space has been a particularly salient issue in Lynn, which has also seen a large influx of new students. The Lynn Public School District increased from 13,547 students in 2010-11 to 13,731 in 2011-12. This has resulted in a proposal for the opening an innovation school  at the elementary level (Washington) to help lower class sizes at a few of the most populated schools which are mostly those that house the lower grades. Focusing on the lower grades (K-5) at this point is important as this is where much of the dramatic increases in student enrollment in Lynn are currently concentrated. Below is a table detailing student enrollment by grade from 2007-08 to 2011-2012 for the Lynn Public School District. Only enrollment numbers for pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade are shown here as, again, this is a particular area of concern. 

	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
PK	199	242	245	233	266
K	989	1036	1120	1102	1235
1	1128	1109	1156	1217	1228
2	1100	1051	1075	1123	1182
3	1006	1068	1017	1051	1063

Here we see that the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten populations are exploding; the enrollment for these grades has increased by 34% and 25%, respectively, from 2007-08. Worcester and New Bedford saw a similar trend. In Worcester, pre-kindergarten enrollment increased from 1,554 students in 2010-11 to 1,624 students in 2011-12 while kindergarten enrollment went from 2,068 to 2,145. New Bedford had 108 more pre-kindergarten students enter its school district in 2011-12 when compared to the previous year.

Not all schools within each district are seeing an increase in their enrollment. Some schools in Lynn are relatively stable in their enrollment numbers; Brickett's enrollment increased by only two students from 2010-11 to 2011-12 while Callahan has eight fewer students this school year than it did last year. There seems to be just a few schools that are experiencing a substantial growth in their numbers.

	2010-11	2011-12
Cobbet	645	682
Connery	583	606
Ford	547	605*
Harrington	563	639
Ingalls	609	639
Breed	1168	1257

*[Editor's Note 2/7/12]: According to the Massachusetts DESE report, Ford School has 598 students; Ford's principal, Dr. Claire Crane, however confirmed on 2/6/12 that enrollment is actually 605.

From 2010-11 to 2011-12, Ford School grew by 51 students while Harrington welcomed 76 students. Cobbet currently has five 1st grades classrooms and six 2nd grade classrooms because there is a total of 269 students in these two grades combined.  I alluded to English language proficiency previously as this is serious concern for the schools growing at a rapid rate. Ford, for example, is 37.1% limited English proficiency (LEP) and 65.1% 'first language not English;' Ingalls is 34.6% LEP and 66% 'first language not English.'  Large class size is of particular concern for students with limited English skills who may require more personal instruction in order to learn adequately and become proficient in English. For this reason (among others), focusing on and seriously addressing the issue of overcrowding should be a top priority for the city of Lynn and other districts who are experiencing similar increases in student population growth.

Lynn Among Districts Not Meeting Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives

Per Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is required to establish annual measurable achievement objectives (AMAOs) for English language acquisition and the academic achievement of limited English proficiency (LEP) students. Title III, also called the 'English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act', has a number of purposes which include: 

• to help ensure that children who are limited English proficient, including immigrant children and youth, attain English proficiency, develop high levels of academic attainment in English, and meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet
• to assist all limited English proficient children, including immigrant children and youth, to achieve at high levels in the core academic subjects so that those children can meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet
• to promote parental and community participation in language instruction educational programs for parents and communities of limited English proficient children
• to hold State educational agencies, local education agencies, and schools accountable for increases in English proficiency and core academic content of limited English proficient children by requiring - (A) demonstrated improvements in the English proficiency of limited English proficient children each fiscal year; and (B) adequate yearly progress for limited English proficient children and youth.

 In Massachusetts, AMAOs are established for LEP students in grades K-12 in three categories: 

(1) Progress toward English language proficiency. The Massachusetts goal for 2011 was for 61% of LEP students to make progress toward proficiency.

(2) Attainment of English language proficiency defined as scoring at the midpoint of Level 4 or above on the Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment (MEPA) test. The MEPA tests LEP students' proficiency in reading, writing, listening comprehension and speaking production. Individual attainment targets were determined for each district based on its students' number of years in Massachusetts

(3) Adequate Yearly Progress of the LEP subgroup on the MCAS exam in both English language arts and mathematics. 

On January 30, 2012, the Massachusetts DESE released a summary of AMAO data for LEP students in public school districts receiving Title III funds. In order to to be eligible to receive Title III funding, a district or consortium of schools/districts must enroll more than 100 LEP students. It should be noted that under this section of NCLB, schools/districts are required to notify parents of its failure on the AMAOs within 30 days. Of the 58 public /charter school districts receiving Title III funds, 22 did not meet the target goal of 61% of LEP students making progress toward proficiency. Districts not achieving this goal include Boston, Brockton, Lynn, Springfield, Fall River and Taunton. Twenty districts (out of 58) did not meet their targets for the percentage of students actually attaining English language proficiency; Lynn once again is included on this list along with Salem, Metheun, and Lawrence. Finally, out of 51 districts, only seven made AYP in English Language Arts  in the LEP student subgroup (Arlington, Barnstable, Brookline, Clinton, Lawrence Family Development Charter, Lexington, and Lowell Community Charter). Similarly only seven (out of 52) districts made AYP in in math for this group (Arlington, Barnstable, Brookline, Lawrence Family Development Charter, Lexington, Lowell Community Charter, and Westborough). 

In 2011, Lynn, a district with nearly 20% LEP students, did not meet any of its established AMAOs. Lynn missed the progress target (61%) by one percentage point as 60% of Lynn's LEP students made progress toward proficiency. In terms of attainment, the Lynn missed reaching its target by four percentage points (target: 36%; actual 32%). Before last year, however, the city did meet a minimum of one of its goals related to Title III dating back to  at least 2005. Lynn met its attainment goal in  2005 and 2010, its progress and attainment goals in 2006 and 2009 and its progress, attainment and math AYP goals in 2007. Although some question the practice of simply trying to get students proficient in English as quickly as possible, focusing on students with limited English skills is still essential particularly in a city like Lynn which has been charged with educating such a large population of these students.

*To view the full AMAO report: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/amao.aspx