 English learners reclassification and academic achievement: Evidence from MinnesotaMasayuki Onda and Edward Seyler Economics of Education Review, 2020, vol. 79, issue C Abstract: Providing appropriate learning environments for students who are not native English speakers is an important element of ensuring equal access to education for students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. This study evaluates the process for reclassifying English learner (EL) students as English proficient. Exploiting the threshold-based reclassification policy in Minnesota, we use a regression discontinuity design to recover counterfactuals— how much would EL students who were not reclassified due to the reclassification policy have improved in academic achievement had they been reclassified? We find that reclassification had no discernible effect on math and reading scores for 3rd-grade EL students, while reclassification increased the math scores of 6th-grade EL students. Our subgroup analysis finds that the positive effects of reclassification mostly depend on the large estimates in the first-year cohort of EL students. Taken altogether, these results imply that reclassification was unlikely to harm the 3rd- and 6th-grade EL students. Keywords: Regression discontinuity designs; Nonrandom selection; English learners; Resource allocation (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:79:y:2020:i:c:s027277572030529x DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102043 Access Statistics for this article Economics of Education Review is currently edited by E. Cohn More articles in Economics of Education Review from Elsevier |
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