Allocating federal funds for state programs for English language learners / Panel to Review Alternative Data Sources for the Limited-English Proficiency Allocation Formula under Title III, Part A, Elementary and Secondary Education Act ; Committee on National Statistics and Board on Testing and Assessment, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council of the National Academies.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

National Research Council (U.S.). Panel to Review Alternative Data Sources for the Limited-English Proficiency Allocation Formula under Title III, Part A, Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Contributor:

National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on National Statistics.

National Research Council (U.S.). Center for Education. Board on Testing and Assessment.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education--United States--States--Finance.

Education.

United States.

Finance.

Federal aid to education--United States.

Federal aid to education.

English language--Study and teaching--United States--Foreign speakers.

English language.

English language--Study and teaching.

United States. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

American community survey.

Physical Description:

xxii, 213 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : National Academies Press, [2011]

Summary:

As the United States continues to be a nation of immigrants and their children, the nation's school systems face increased enrollments of students whose primary language is not English. With the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the allocation of federal funds for programs to assist these students to be proficient in English became formula-based: 80 percent on the basis of the population of children with limited English proficiency and 20 percent on the basis of the population of recently immigrated children and youth. Title III of NCLB directs the U.S. Department of Education to allocate funds on the basis of the more accurate of two allowable data sources: the number of students reported to the federal government by each state education agency or data from the American Community Survey (ACS). The department determined that the ACS estimates are more accurate, and since 2005, those data have been basis for the federal distribution of Title III funds. Subsequently, analyses of the two data sources have raised concerns about that decision, especially because the two allowable data sources would allocate quite different amounts to the states. In addition, while shortcomings were noted in the data provided by the states, the ACS estimates were shown to fluctuate between years, causing concern among the states about the unpredictability and unevenness of program funding. In this context, the U.S. Department of Education commissioned the National Research Council to address the accuracy of the estimates from the two data sources and the factors that influence the estimates. The resulting book also considers means of increasing the accuracy of the data sources or alternative data sources that could be used for allocation purposes.

Contents:

1 Introduction 5

The Population and the New Landscape 5

Allocating Funds for Title III Programs 8

Review by the U.S. Government Accountability Office 13

This Study and This Report 15

2 American Community Survey Estimates 21

The American Community Survey 21

Assessment of the Data 29

ACS Estimates 36

Properties of the Estimates 37

3 Quality and Comparability of State Tests of English Language Proficiency 59

NCLB Requirements for English Language Proficiency Tests 60

State English Language Proficiency Tests 61

General Similarities and Differences Among the State Tests 67

4 State Procedures for Identifying and Classifying English Language Learners 77

Initial Classification of Students 80

Reclassification of ELL Students 86

Data on ELL Students Reported to the Federal Government 90

5 Comparison of American Community Survey Estimates and State Counts 103

Conceptual Differences in the Two Sources 103

Comparison of Shares of ELL Students 105

Comparison of Rates of ELL Students 111

Understanding the Differences 116

6 Comparability of Estimates of Immigrant School-Age Children 133

ACS Data and Estimates 134

State Procedures for Determining Immigrant Status 145

Comparison of ACS and State Estimates 150

7 Decision Criteria and Recommendations 161

Desired Characteristics of Allocation Formulas 161

Comparing the Allowable Data Sources 164.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-179).

ISBN:

0309186587

9780309186582

OCLC:

705518864