Creating Coherence

Federal and state laws mandate language support services for students designated as English learners (ELs). Yet decades of research findings suggest that keeping students in the EL category too long can lead to unequal academic outcomes. Practices used to transition students out of this category—a process known as reclassification—can also generate unequal outcomes. This report examines how California’s policy context, characterized by a complex reclassification process and a high degree of local control, contributes to systemic obstacles. Drawing on findings from the Stanford–Sequoia K–12 Research Collaborative, a research–practice partnership, this report highlights how locally variable criteria—specifically the “basic skills” requirement—as well as administrative hurdles can lead to missed or delayed reclassifications. Local variability can result in unequal reclassification opportunities across districts, especially for students enrolled in nonunified systems (e.g., separate elementary and high school districts). Fragmented data systems and the delayed release of state test results often compound these challenges.

To address these obstacles, the Stanford–Sequoia Collaborative districts worked together over nine years to streamline their practices in three ways:

• Align and broaden pathways to meet basic skills. Districts calibrated thresholds between elementary and high school districts, and provided multiple pathways and test windows for students to demonstrate basic skills.
• Shift mindsets and build support. Districts used research to build visible support for EL students in their strategic visions and accountability plans.
• Reduce procedural frictions. Districts shifted from sequential to concurrent processing of reclassification criteria, enabling more end-of-year reclassifications.

These changes produced significant results. To scale these successes across California, we recommend three state-level reforms:

• Eliminate the basic skills criterion. Removing this requirement would keep arbitrary and unnecessarily high barriers from trapping English-proficient students in the EL category.
• Reform accountability systems. Report reclassification rates and disaggregated multilingual learner categories on the California School Dashboard to ensure that districts are not penalized for reclassifying high-performing EL students.
• Reduce administrative burdens. Standardize the timing of the release of English language proficiency scores, implement alerts for students who are ready to reclassify, and provide clear guidance on reclassification processes.

PACE Stanford-Sequoia Gardner Center