Abstract

English learners’ (ELs) day-to-day experiences in school change when reclassified as fully English proficient. Prior research, however, is mixed on how reclassification influences outcomes. Many studies also do not or cannot explore key long-term outcomes or identify impacts over time. In this study, I leverage longitudinal student data in a regression discontinuity and find that reclassification after third grade affects ELs’ achievement in the short and longer term. Reclassified ELs score considerably higher on mathematics and reading standardized tests in fifth and eighth grade. I also provide the first causal evidence for the impact of reclassification on several theoretically affected noncognitive outcomes. I find that reclassification substantially lowers the level of challenge for work assigned by teachers and increases ELs’ out-of-school engagement in the short term. However, effects on noncognitive outcomes attenuate or reverse direction in the longer term. Together, these findings highlight the need for evaluations to consider multiple measures and to identify impacts over time when possible, especially when data on long-term outcomes such as high school graduation, college persistence, or labor market success are unavailable.

摘要

重新分类为完全精通英语的英语学习者（ELs）的日常学习经历会发生变化。但是，关于重新分类如何影响结果的先前研究是混杂的。许多研究也没有或不能探索关键的长期结果或确定随着时间的推移所产生的影响。在这项研究中，我利用纵向的学生数据进行回归不连续性分析，发现三年级后的重新分类会影响短期和长期EL的成绩。重新分类的EL在五年级和八年级的数学和阅读标准化考试中的得分要高得多。我还提供了重新分类对几种理论上影响的非认知结果的影响的第一个因果证据。我发现，重新分类大大降低了教师分配工作的挑战性，并在短期内增加了EL的校外参与度。但是，从长远来看，对非认知结局的影响会减弱或逆转。总之，这些发现突出表明需要进行评估，以考虑多种措施，并在可能的情况下确定随时间的影响，尤其是在没有长期结果（例如高中毕业，大学坚持或劳动力市场成功）的数据时。