Education Week - January 22, 2020 - 14

QUALITY COUNTS 2020: Chance for Success

CLOSE UP: MASSACHUSETTS

Leading State Confronts
Soft Spots in Its System
Mass. again
at top overall
in Chance for
Success, but
aware there's
work that
remains

By Arianna Prothero
While strong academics, welleducated parents, and high levels of
postsecondary enrollment have once
again helped put Massachusetts to
the top of the EdWeek Research Center's Chance-for-Success Index, the
state faces challenges in other areas
that make up that yardstick of educational quality, such as the percentage
of children whose parents are fluent
English-speakers.
"Massachusetts in the past 10 years
or so has typically been ranked at or
near the top on various metrics,"
said Jeffrey C. Riley, the elementary

and secondary education commissioner with the state. "But when we
look closer at our data, what we see
is we're kind of only number one
for some. We see that kids living in
poverty, students with special needs,
kids learning English, aren't necessarily having the same success as
other students in our state. And so
we feel a moral obligation to fix that."
Riley hopes a new funding formula
passed at the closing of 2019 that
directs more dollars into school districts with the neediest students will
help shore up the state's weak spots.
Massachusetts has topped Chance
for Success for more than a decade. It

performs strongly in all three realms
of the index, which measures a range
of academic and socioeconomic factors from the early years, through
school, and into adulthood. It ranks
9th nationally for early foundations,
in large part because of family income-in that category the state
ranks second-and in parent education, where the state ranks fourth.
Both of them help children get a head
start in life.
But where Massachusetts really
shines is in the school years and in
the outcomes for its students when
they enter adulthood: The state ranks
first on the index for the school years
and second for adult outcomes.
Driving that is strong academic performance from students-the state
ranks first nationally in 4th grade
reading and 8th grade math.
And on either end of the K-12 school
years, the state ranks high for preschool enrollment and postsecondary
participation.
Massachusetts falls outside the top

CLOSE UP: LINGUISTIC INTEGRATION

English-Fluency in the Home: Why Does It Matter?
States vary in this piece
of school readiness
By Sterling C. Lloyd
& Corey Mitchell
Research shows that children whose parents
are involved in supporting their learning do better in school, but that's often a barrier for children
whose parents aren't fluent speakers of English.
English-language-learner families are less
likely than English-only families to attend parent-teacher conferences and other school-related
events, U.S. Department of Education surveys
have shown.
These families, most of whom are Latino, are
also far less likely to volunteer or serve on school
committees and attend school or class events-all
important opportunities to communicate about
students' academic progress.
Linguistic integration-the percent of dependent children whose parents are fluent speakers
of English-is one of 13 indicators that make up the
EdWeek Research Center's Chance-for-Success
Index. The index examines the role education
plays in providing opportunities throughout an
individual's lifetime.
Across the United States, the percentage of children whose parents are fluent English speakers
ranges from 67 percent in California to nearly 100
percent in Montana.
Roughly half of states have levels of linguistic
integration that are higher than 90 percent. In
17 states and the District of Columbia, the percent of children whose parents are fluent English
speakers is between 80 and 90 percent.
Levels of linguistic integration are below 80 percent in seven states-Arizona, California, Florida,
Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.
While language barriers affect student achievement, linguistic integration is just one factor that
can influence academic outcomes. As the index

reveals, boosting academic achievement is a complex process.
Some states that rate near the top of the index
have relatively low levels of linguistic integration.
The three states that rank highest on the overall
index, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut, have had at least a 4 percentage point decrease in the number of English-speaking families since 2008, the year the EdWeek Research
Center Chance-for-Success Index began its current scoring system.
Massachusetts ranks first on the overall index,
with an A-minus grade, but 42nd for linguistic integration. New Jersey and Connecticut rank second and third respectively on the overall index,
but in the bottom quarter of states for linguistic
integration.
Conversely, some states struggled on the index
despite high linguistic integration rankings.
Students in Montana and West Virginia face
fewer language barriers than their peers in other
states, but that does not necessarily translate to
stronger academic achievement and adult outcomes.
Montana ranks first in the nation for linguistic
integration, but only 28th overall, with a C-plus
grade.
West Virginia has the second-highest level of
linguistic integration, but ranks 49th overall on
Chance for Success with a C- minus grade.
Louisiana and Mississippi also rank in the top 10
for linguistic integration, but fare much worse on
the overall index, earning a C-minus and C grade
respectively.

Developing Connections
Linguistic integration is part of the early foundation category of the Chance-for-Success Index,
which also includes parental educational levels,
family income, and other factors that can influence whether children start school ready to learn.
Under the index guidelines, all parents in
the home must be fluent in English for a family

14 | EDUCATION WEEK | January 22, 2020 | www.edweek.org

to be considered linguistically integrated.
Having at least one English-speaking adult in
the home increased the likelihood of a parent
or guardian attending a school or class event,
parent-teacher conference, or meeting with a
guidance counselor, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Studies out of Boston University's Wheelock
College of Education and Human Development
have shown that parent involvement is a significant predictor of children's literacy skills, and that
bonds formed with other parents at the school may
help increase school involvement among Latino
families.
A 2015 report from the Center for American
Progress, "The Case for a Two-Generation Approach for Educating English Language Learners," makes the case that communities looking
to improve education for school-aged Englishlanguage learners should also offer services to
their parents.
The study found that limited English skills
for parents and students "can create a poverty
trap for families" and argues that engaging them
simultaneously improves the academic and educational well-being of both generations.
Similarly, a 2015 report from the Education
Commission on the States recommended that
states do more to connect with English-learner
families, including offering adult ELL community education classes to help bridge the language
gap.
English-learners who do not reach proficiency
can often end up illiterate in two languages,
effectively unable to read or write in either.
Research from the Center for Early Education
Development at the University of Minnesota indicates that parents whose primary language is
Spanish-by far the most common language of
English-learner families-or another language
besides English, should encourage and support
their child's development and literacy in the
home language, which can benefit their Englishlearning.

10 states on the school-years indicator
is for graduation rates, where it ranks
12th, and kindergarten enrollment,
where it ranks 36th. However, its graduation rate still isn't that far below the
top-performing state. And in terms of
adult outcomes, Massachusetts is 2nd
for both educational attainment and
annual income.
But those bright spots can obscure
areas where the state is struggling. In
the area of parental fluency in English, Massachusetts ranks near the
bottom at 42nd.
Massachusetts schools have seen
a substantial increase in the number
of second-language students, many
whose families are immigrating from
Central and South America, said
Riley. The state legislature recently
increased funding to help students-
and in particular adults-learn English through the state's adult learning
centers.
"Whatever we can do to provide
supports for the entire family, we
feel like we are going to get better
educational outcomes for our kids,"
said Riley. "I think a parent's ability to
navigate an educational system may
be too often dependent on their level
of comfort in English."

Funding Law Rewrite
Massachusetts' governor, Charlie
Baker, a Republican, signed a bill into
law late last year that rewrites the
state's funding formula and boosts
money for schools by $1.5 billion over
the next seven years. The Student
Opportunity Act, as it's called, aims
to address funding inequities across
districts by funneling more dollars
to those with higher percentages of
English-language learners and lowincome students.
Massachusetts also ranks toward
the low end in kindergarten enrollment, as do other New England states
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and
Vermont. Massachusetts' ranking of
36th for kindergarten enrollment is
likely because attending kindergarten is not mandatory in the state, said
Riley.
"At the same time, we are starting
to see a recognition that both kindergarten and prekindergarten are
incredibly important to our children's
success, and so you're starting to see
those [enrollments] rise and I think
they will continue to rise both in kindergarten and in prekindergarten,"
he said.
A couple of other areas where Massachusetts falls short in the Chance
for Success rankings are parental employment, where it ranks 28th, and
steady employment for graduates,
where it ranks 45th.
"We're always trying to figure out
what is next to prepare our kids to
enter the world, the new challenging
world that they're going into," said
Riley. "[D]espite some strong academic gains and outputs, and being
at the top of the Chance-for-Success
Index-that's all great-but we're
also interested in figuring out what
is next."

http://www.edweek.org

Education Week - January 22, 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - January 22, 2020