Oregon State University and the state Department of Education will soon learn more about grade school students who begin school as English language learners due to a federal grant.
The $400,000 grant will be used for research about how Oregon students who enter school without speaking English proficiently are doing over a number of years.
Karen Thompson, an assistant professor in the College of Education at OSU, will lead the study.
Thompson: “Often, states don’t know how their former English language learners are doing. They don’t know what percentage of them are graduating. They don’t know how they’re doing on tests of academic achievement. And, the Oregon Department of Education is interested in partnering with us to better understand how all students who enter as English language learners are doing.”
Currently, the federal government only requires states to monitor English language learners for two years.