Stopping the ELL Dropout Crisis

English Language Learners nationwide face huge obstacles to academic success. About two-thirds of children who have not yet learned English are living in poverty, compared to only one-third of English proficient children. Their parents are likely to have had only limited schooling and more than half are enrolled in “linguistically-segregated” schools.

ELLs who were not born here face additional obstacles: not only must they learn a new language, but they must also adjust to a new country and school system - all the while trying to catch up to a moving train and meet promotion and graduation standards. We know that our public education system is not succeeding with these students. Despite overall gains in graduation rates in New York, graduation rates for ELL students have actually decreased in recent years and the gap between ELL students and English proficient students has widened. Clearly, just as ELL students have to work harder, so do we.