Looking at the Limited English Proficiency Population Affected by Lynn's Overcrowding Issue

Earlier this week, Lynn public school educators and staff spoke out against the large class sizes plaguing the city's schools, a situation that Lynn Teachers Union president Sheila O'Neil said should "the last resort." Of note, those in attendance consistently commented on how these class sizes are specifically impacting students with early or limited English proficiency. 

As of this school year, the Lynn Public School District's population is 64.2% those whose first language is not English and 36.3% limited English proficiency. Across the district, the percent of students in these categories is largely consistent at the middle and high school levels. Lynn English does have the highest percentage of English language learners among these schools. 

Among the consequences of large or overcrowded classrooms are higher dropout rates. Breed teacher Sabrina Markham alluded to this in her school committee testimony on Monday saying that research indicates that students in smaller classes perform better academically in all areas. Markham also said that students in smaller classes "participate more and are more likely to interact with peers and teachers."

Dropouts in Massachusetts are defined as students who leave school during the academic year and do not return by the following October 1st. The dropout rate for English language learners for 2020-21 was 9% for the district as a whole. In other words, 9% of ELL students in Lynn left school during the 2020-21 academic year and had not returned by October 1, 2021. 

Dropout rates at the grade level varied by year and school; for example, Lynn Classical had a 16% dropout for 11th grade English language learners students last year while Lynn Tech had a 3.8% dropout rate for the same grade level and population. 

Given the significant population of English learner students in Lynn, it is fair to say that large or overcrowded classrooms disproportionately impact these students.

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Data: doe.mass.edu

Kindergarten Population in Lynn sees Increase in English Language Learner, Limited English Proficiency Students Over Past Decade

Recently, discussion around the growing Limited English Proficiency/English Language Learner student population in Lynn at the kindergarten level. Last week, the Lynn School Committee voted 4-3 to not require kindergarten teachers to obtain an ESL certification (that decision received a sharp rebuke from the Daily Item).

Looking at the data, Lynn's LEP/ELL student population at the kindergarten level has increased substantially over the last decade. During the 2011-12 school year, 336 out of 1,235 kindergarten students were LEP/ELL; in 2020-21 that ratio was 695 out of 1,086. 

At individual schools, the percentage of LEP/ELL students is much higher than the city rate overall. Below are the schools with the highest number of this student population; these schools represent 55% of the kindergarten population overall and 61% of the kindergarten LEP/ELL population citywide. 

As the student population in Lynn continues to change, it will be interesting to see how the School Department responds to changing priorities and needs as a result (and also how the School Committee responds).

All data taken from: www.doe.mass.edu 

Compared to Surrounding Communities, Lynn Public School District Enrolls Higher Percentages of Non-White, ELL and Economically Disadvantaged Student Populations

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a Policy for Progress webinar titled 'A Conversation for Progress: Perspectives on School Segregation' which featured panelists discussing the segregation in Massachusetts public schools. In large part, the conversation centered on this Fault Lines report on attitudes and perceptions of segregation in the state. Interestingly, according to the report, Massachusetts voters perceived school segregation to be a bigger problem nationwide compared to the state (26% versus 14%). Additionally, nearly half of Massachusetts voters believe that the state's school's have become less segregated in the last 50 years. 

The report goes on to compare the disparities in five neighboring communities including Worcester-Shrewsbury and Lawrence-Andover. In looking at the city of Lynn and some surrounding communities, one can similar disparities as those noted in the Fault Lines report. 

Per the most updated data reported by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the percentage of non-white students (including multi-racial students) in Lynn this school year was 86.9% compared to a range of 13.6% - 57.4% in neighboring communities. Just over two-thirds of the student population in Lynn is Hispanic. 

While Lynn has had a much higher non-white student population for at least the last 27 years (see below), even with a growing a non-white student population in surrounding communities, Lynn's non-white student population continues to be significantly higher than towns like Marblehead and Swampscott. 

Even within Lynn, there is evidence of segregation. For example, 44.2% of white students enrolled at Breed, Marshall and Pickering Middle Schools attend Pickering Middle School; the other 55.8% are split between Breed and Marshall Middle Schools. 

In looking at other selected populations, Lynn also has a much higher percentage of students whose first language is not English and who are English Language Learners and 'economically disadvantaged'. 

All data taken from: www.doe.mass.edu 

2019 4-Year Dropout Rate for English Learner Students Sees an Increase Statewide from 2018

Over the past five years, the number of English Learner (EL) students statewide in the graduating student cohort has increased nearly 50%.

While the number of EL students has increased, so has the 4-year dropout rate. In 2015, 14.1% of EL students who enrolled in 9th grade in 2011 dropped out within fours years; by 2019, the 4-year dropout rate had increased to 16.9%. 

Alternatively, the 4-year graduation rate for EL students in 2019 was 64.6% compared to 64% in 2015.

The state's 26 Gateway Cities represented 46.8% of the 2019 EL cohort. The 4-year dropout among these communities ranged from 0% in Westfield to 40% in Peabody.

Source: www.doe.mass.edu

Comparing Massachusetts' Public School Enrollment: 1993 versus 2018

Currently, the Massachusetts State Legislature is set to revisit discussion around the public school funding formula which was initially implemented with the Education Reform Act of 1993. In 25 years, aside from minor changes, the funding formula has remained largely unchanged despite a significantly different educational and financial environment than the one that existed a quarter century ago. Additionally, in that time, the state's student population has changed as well.

First, the public K-12 student population has increased 8%. The state's largest five districts in 1993-94 were Boston, Springfield, Worcester, New Bedford and Lowell representing 15.8% of the state's school population; Brockton and Lynn have since replace the latter two districts rounding out a group that now represents 14% of state public school enrollment.

Second, the percentage of Hispanic/Latino students has increased 12 points and the Asian student population 4.3.

More importantly, however, the percentage of English Language Learners has doubled in the past 25 years. (Note: The metric for defining low income/economically disadvantaged has changed in recent years such that it is not possible to make a historical comparison).

Boston, the state's largest district, has also seen shifts in the past two decades. Most notably, the African American/Black population has declined while the Hispanic/Latino population has nearly doubled.

Similar to the state overall, Boston has also seen an increase in the English Language Learner population.

In 1993-94, there were 63,738 students enrolled in the Boston Public School District; this year enrollment is 51,443.

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For more information on the Massachusetts Chapter 70 Funding Formula:

• Demystifying the Chapter 70 Funding Formula: How the Massachusetts Education Funding System Works
• Public School Funding in Massachusetts: Where We Are, What Has Changed, and How We Compare to Other States

For more on the proposed PROMISE Act: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/SD101


Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has also put forth a proposal to make changes to way that the state funds its public schools.

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Source: www.doe.mass.edu

English Language Learners in Urban Districts Struggle on ELA MCAS exam

Below are the English Language Arts (ELA) results fro English Language Learners (ELL) students on the 2012 MCAS exam for the ten urban Commissioner's districts. The districts are listed in descending order according to their Composite Performance Index (CPI). A CPI of 100 is the equivalent of all students having achieved proficiency (proficient or advanced scores) on the exam.  More specifically, each student participating in the MCAS is given a CPI score based on well they perform on the MCAS which is later averaged among the district, school or subgroup in order to determine the overall CPI. Possible scores are 0 (Warning/Failing - Low), 25 (Warning/Failing - High), 50 (Needs Improvement - Low), 75 (Needs Improvement - High), and 100 (Proficient or Advanced). Also listed is the number of ELL students included for each district's results.

Key
Adv. = Advanced (Scores 260-280)
Prof. = Proficient (Scores 240-259)
NI = Needs Improvement (Scores 220-239)
W = Warning/Failing (Scores 200-219)

	Adv.	Prof.	NI	W	CPI	# Included
Lowell	2%	27%	43%	27%	63.3	2,633
Worcester	1%	22%	43%	34%	59.3	3,343
Boston	1%	21%	46%	32%	59.1	7,721
Brockton	1%	15%	46%	38%	53.6	1,719
Lynn	0%	13%	46%	41%	52.6	1,038
Springfield	1%	14%	41%	44%	51.3	1,953
Holyoke	0%	9%	35%	56%	49.9	792
Lawrence	0%	10%	40%	49%	47.6	1,215
Fall River	0%	8%	36%	56%	43.0	309
New Bedford	0%	4%	28%	68%	37.4	202

As the table indicates, the percentage of ELL students achieving advanced scores ranged from just 0 - 2% for all 10 districts. Lowell posted the highest CPI among these districts with a score that put its students mostly in the 'Needs Improvement' range. New Bedford was on the other end of the spectrum with a little over two-thirds of its ELL students in the 'Warning/Failing' category and no ELL students achieving an advanced score.

Citation: www.doe.mass.edu