ABSTRACT

Using linked, individual-level data from a large metropolitan K-12 district and a large urban community college district in California, we examine whether indicators of college-readiness for graduating high school students who were initially classified as English Learners (ELs) are honored in community college course placement. In particular, we explore (1) whether there is misalignment in course assignment levels among former EL students between the K-12 and community college sector based on high school readiness metrics; and (2) if misalignment exists, we investigate its extent among various levels and identities of EL students. We employ an integrated capitals and funds of knowledge framework to emphasize students’ assets in the form of resources, knowledge, and skills while also acknowledging the role of education systems in reproducing social inequities. We find that along with students who speak Spanish at home, Latina/o, and Black students, former ELs who met college-readiness standards experienced the highest levels of inter-sector English misalignment (over 75%). Our results show a negative association between experiencing inter-sector misalignment and college credit accumulation. After controlling for course placement, background, and academic characteristics our analysis suggests that despite facing higher levels of inter-sector misalignment relative to other students, former ELs manage to accumulate five to six more transferable degree units than their monolingual English-speaking peers. The findings suggest a need for even greater inter-sector communication and accountability between legislators, K-12, and postsecondary leaders to ensure that state-level college-readiness standards are properly defined and consistently used in the transition from high school to college.

摘要

我们使用来自加利福尼亚州大型城市 K-12 学区和大型城市社区大学学区的关联个人级别数据，检查最初被归类为英语学习者 (EL) 的高中毕业生的大学准备指标是否受到尊重在社区大学课程安排中。我们特别探讨了 (1) 根据高中准备指标，K-12 和社区大学部门之间的前 EL 学生的课程分配水平是否存在偏差；(2) 如果存在错位，我们调查不同层次和身份的 EL 学生之间的错位程度。我们采用综合的知识框架资本和资金，以资源、知识、和技能，同时也承认教育系统在再现社会不平等方面的作用。我们发现，与在家说西班牙语的学生、拉丁裔/o 和黑人学生一样，符合大学准备标准的前 EL 经历了最高水平的跨部门英语错位（超过 75%）。我们的结果表明，经历跨部门错位与大学学分积累之间存在负相关。在控制了课程安排、背景和学术特征后，我们的分析表明，尽管相对于其他学生而言，他们面临更高水平的跨部门错位，但前 EL 成功地比他们只会说英语的同龄人多积累了 5 到 6 个可转移学位单元。