The College Trajectories of English Language Learner Identified Youth: An Analysis of Postsecondary Outcomes in Texas

Stella M. Flores

English language learner (ELL) programs have been at the forefront of various court decisions since well before the 1970s, and more recently through state referenda. Adding to the contextual complexity of these legal decisions are federal mandates stemming from the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that now require public school districts to account for the academic achievement of students identified as English language learners. It is therefore becoming increasingly clear that educational decisions regarding this population require stronger reliance on data-driven analyses. Key to making such assessments is the availability of appropriate data and knowledge of programs affecting ELL students. As research on ELL students has expanded significantly over the last three decades, few studies have used reliable and detailed datasets that extend into state postsecondary school systems to examine ELL students’ odds of going to and succeeding in college. Using a unique, confidential, and longitudinal state administrative dataset in Texas, this study proposes to evaluate the effects of ELL identification on the college-access trajectories of students who have been assigned this identification status. Specifically, the project will investigate the demographic and academic determinants of college access as well as more detailed postsecondary outcomes of ELL and former ELL students who enroll in college. Finally, the project will examine whether the effects of postsecondary remediation differ for ELL students relative to non-ELL students. The data are well-suited for a series of quasi-experimental research studies represented by the proposed research questions: 1. What are the demographic and academic achievement determinants of college entry for ELL students and how do they compare to observationally similar non-ELL students? 2. What are the postsecondary outcomes of ELL and former ELL students who enroll in college (specifically, taking remedial courses, persistence, and performance)? 3. Do remediation effects differ for ELL students relative to non-ELL students in Texas? Effects may be defined as type of remediation, exit from remediation into traditional coursework, credits attained, and persistence by semester.My project fills an important gap in the quantitative examination of these students as an underrepresented student population in the nation’s colleges and universities. In addition, the project builds on the growing diversification of ELL research and econometric studies of college access by merging the literature and methodological techniques used by multiple disciplines to study the college outcomes of one of the most underrepresented but fastest growing populations in the United States.

About Stella M. Flores

Stella Flores is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Higher Education at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University with a secondary appointment in the Department of Sociology. She holds an Ed.D. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy with a concentration in Higher Education from Harvard University, an Ed.M. from Harvard University, an M.P.Aff. from The University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. from Rice University. Prior to joining Vanderbilt, she served as a program evaluator for the U.S. General Accountability Office and as a program specialist for the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Professor Flores’ work employs large-scale databases and quantitative methods to investigate the impact of state and federal policies on college access and completion for low-income and underrepresented populations. She has written on the role of alternative admissions plans and financial aid programs in college admissions, demographic changes in higher education, the role of the Hispanic Serving Institution in U.S. higher education policy, and Latino students and community colleges. Her publications include various peer-reviewed publications and two edited volumes, Legacies of Brown: Multiracial Equity in American Education published by the Harvard Educational Review (with Dorinda J. Carter and Richard J. Reddick) and Latino Educational Opportunity published by Jossey-Bass as part of the New Directions for Community College series (with Catherine L. Horn and Gary Orfield). Her recent work includes an examination of the effect of in-state resident tuition policies on the college enrollment and persistence of undocumented students across the United States, an evaluation of institutional adoption of No Loan Programs at private and public colleges and universities, an analysis of institutional response to federal and state changes in race-conscious admissions policies and programs, and a study examining the college access and success of underrepresented students in Texas colleges and universities. Dr. Flores currently teaches courses relating to college access and completion and general public policy.