Moving English Language Learners to College-and-Career-Readiness
AYPF trip participants with Deputy Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds and leaders of Region One Educational Service Center.
An American Youth Policy Forum Field Trip — Rio Grande Valley, Texas May 6-8, 2009
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is organizing a series of field trips for federal and state policy leaders to learn about strategies to improve college- and career-readiness by engaging in substantive policy discussions and visiting successful and innovative school systems.
On May 6-8, 2009, AYPF brought a group of approximately 20 federal policy leaders to the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas, to observe the region’s successful strategies for moving English Language Learners (ELLs) along a pathway to college- and career-readiness. Participants had an opportunity to visit two school systems—Hidalgo Independent School District and Pharr San-Juan Alamo Independent School District—and to meet with leaders at the state, regional, district and community college levels, as well as students, teachers, and parents. The goal was for trip participants to be able to identify policy implications for better serving an ELL population.
Read an AYPF Policy Brief on Lessons Learned from this Fact-Finding Trip
The rapid growth in the population of ELLs nationwide, as well as the persistent achievement gap between ELLs and all public school students, has recently brought this group into the spotlight in debates over education policy, accountability and school improvement.
The Rio Grande Valley (RGV)region of south Texas, located along to the US-Mexico border, provides a particularly strong context to observe successful strategies employed—as well as the challenges faced by—educational systems with large populations of ELL students. The RGV comprises 43 districts, many of which are small, rural school systems. The region has 150,000 identified ELLs, comprising approximately 40% of the overall student enrollment. The student population is 97% Hispanic, and 85% low-SES.
Several school districts in the RGV have received “Recognized” or “Exemplary” ratings by the Texas Education Agency, and multiple high schools have been identified as top schools by US News & World Report and Newsweek. The region’s institutions of higher education have also recently been recognized as among the top 10 public colleges and universities in enrolling and graduating Latino students in the country.
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General Resources:
AYPF Rio Grande Valley, Texas Final Agenda
ELLs and Policy Issues
Improving Assessment and Accountability for ELLs in NCLB. National Council of La Raza, 2006.
Recommendations for Addressing the Needs of ELLs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Selected States' Responses to Supporting High School English Language Learners. National High School Center, 2009.
Lessons Learned from the Rio Grande Valley: Federal Policy Implications for Moving English Language Learners to College and Career Readiness (Roundtable Discussion)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
8:30am-10:00am
Rayburn House Office Building B338
The rapid growth in the population of English Language Learners (ELLs) nationwide, as well as the persistent achievement gap between ELLs and all public school students, has recently brought this group into the spotlight in debates over education policy, accountability and school improvement. The Hidalgo Independent School District (HISD) and the Pharr San-Juan Alamo (PSJA) Independent School District, both located within Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, provide strong examples of school systems that have implemented effective, asset-based models to integrate ELLs into their overall school improvement goals and move these students along a pathway to postsecondary success. In May 2009, AYPF convened a group of approximately 20 federal policy leaders for a fact-finding trip to the Rio Grande Valley focused on Moving English Language Learners to College- and Career-Readiness.
On July 8, 2009, AYPF hosted a follow-up meeting in Washington, DC to allow trip participants to reflect on the lessons learned from the trip, share their perspectives on how these lessons will impact their work, and discuss implications for federal policy. Eight trip participants were in attendance. The discussion focused on ways in which the goals of biliteracy and asset-based approaches can influence policy regarding ELLs, as well as how the Department of Education can support school systems in building the capacity to institute a college-going culture for all students.
Rio Grande Valley Resource Materials
- Issue Brief Featuring Hidalgo Early College High School. Jobs For the Future, 2009.
- Article on Hidalgo Independent School District. Education Week, 2006.
- Article on Pharr-San Juan Alamo School District. A Second Chance at a Bright Future.
- Designing a Sustainable Financial Model to Expand Early College High School in Texas. Jobs for the Future, 2009.
- Accelerating Latino Student Success at Texas Border Institutions. Excelencia in Education, 2008.
Field Trip Handouts
CONTACT
Sarah Hooker
Program Associate
American Youth Policy Forum
1836 Jefferson Place, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202.775.9731
shooker@aypf.org
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional development organization based in Washington, DC, provides learning opportunities for policy leaders, practitioners, and researchers working on youth and education issues at the national, state, and local levels.
AYPF events and publications are made possible by a consortium of philanthropic foundations: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, Charles S. Mott Foundation, and others.