ABSTRACT
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores paint a dismal picture of student achievement for ELLs, with statistics revealing wide and persistent achievement disparities between ELLs and their non-ELL counterparts. The percentage of fourth-graders scoring at or above proficiency in mathematics remains at around 11 percent while 42 percent of non-ELL students score at or above proficient. These statistics bear worse results at the eighth-grade level for math proficiency, with only 5 percent of ELLs at or above proficiency and 36 percent non-ELLs at proficiency. High school graduation rates also reflect that ELLs are not being well served in our schools. In the state of Texas, only 39 percent of ELLs graduate while 78 percent of non-ELL students graduate. Other states produce similar statistics (McHugh & Fix, 2012).
