Project Activities
The project team will conduct eight overarching activities using state data from 2017/18 to 2025/26: (1) estimate the median time to reclassification and how it varies by students and LEAs, (2) conduct a statewide survey of LEAs on reclassification policy decisions, (3) compare EL and non-EL performance on an assessment commonly used in grades 3-8 for the Basic Skills criterion, the statewide standardized ELA assessment, (4) describe the variation in reclassification rates by the assessments and thresholds used to determine whether students meet the Basic Skills criterion, (5) estimate how the impact of reclassification on student opportunities and outcomes varies by the threshold used to determine whether students meet the Basic Skills criterion, (6) estimate the impact of a new tool to support the teacher evaluation reclassification criterion (the OPTEL) on student opportunities and outcomes, (7) conduct LEA interviews to qualitatively examine how the introduction of the OPTEL changed LEA reclassification practices and teacher instruction, and (8) examine whether one or more criteria appear to be a common barrier to reclassification.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The study will take place in California.
Sample
The study will focus on all multilingual learners (current and former EL students) in California public K–12 schools from 2017/18 to 2025/26. Some analyses will focus explicitly on grades 3-8. Non-EL students will be a comparison group for some analyses.
The CDE sets standardized statewide reclassification criteria. California currently has four reclassification criteria, including Assessment of English Language Proficiency, Teacher Evaluations, Parent Consultation, and Basic Skills. The use of four criteria may represent an unnecessarily rigorous number of criteria, resulting in some groups of students being retained in EL status beyond appropriate. The extent of local discretion required to implement the criteria may result in some LEAs using criteria that are too lenient, which may lead to higher reclassification rates but negative impacts on students’ outcomes post-reclassification. It may also result in some LEAs using reclassification criteria that are too stringent, retaining students in EL status beyond the appropriate amount of time, with negative impacts on outcomes. This variation across LEAs may result in inequitable access to opportunities. The CDE is evaluating its reclassification policies, notably the extent of local discretion in implementing the Basic Skills criterion, the newly introduced OPTEL to support the Teacher Evaluations criterion, and the number of criteria.
Research design and methods
The research team will use (1) survival analyses to estimate how long it takes for students to be reclassified, and variation in time to reclassification, (2) descriptive methods to quantify how different LEA reclassification policy decisions are associated with variation in reclassification outcomes, (3) regression discontinuity to estimate the impacts of different thresholds used for the Basic Skills criterion on multilingual learners’ academic and engagement outcomes, (4) quasi-experimental methods to examine how a new tool developed to support a more standardized reclassification approach (the OPTEL) may have impacted student opportunities and outcomes. In addition, the research team will conduct interviews to learn how LEA reclassification decisions are made and how the OPTEL has changed local reclassification practices. They will examine the rates at which students are meeting individual reclassification criteria and the extent to which meeting individual criteria contributes to reclassification.
Control condition
The research team will compare EL student performance in Basic Skills assessment with non-EL peers and multilingual learner outcomes before and after the OPTEL’s introduction.
Key measures
Ke measures include reclassification, performance on the state standardized math and English language arts assessment, probability of chronic absenteeism, and probability of enrollment in a math and English language arts course.
Data analytic strategy
The research team will use descriptive statistics and visualizations to examine patterns and trends, regression models to estimate relationships, and causal methods to estimate the impact of different LEA decisions, including the threshold for reclassification and the introduction of the OPTEL, on student opportunities and outcomes. They will also use qualitative and survey methods to gather information from LEAs on reclassification policy implementation.
State decision making
The CDE will use resulting evidence to inform decision making around whether to retain, remove, or revise current reclassification criteria and how to develop guidance to support more equitable implementation. The CDE will be able to make decisions that will improve academic and reclassification outcomes among multilingual learners.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
SubAwardee(s)
Products and publications
Products include reports for the CDE, webinars for California educators, infographics, a survey version LEAs can use to gather information from schools on reclassification policy implementation, peer-reviewed publications, and conference presentations.
Related projects
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
