Post-Pandemic Onset Trends for Public School English Learners in Virginia. COVID-19 Impacts Research Brief Series No. 3

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the educational experiences of diverse student populations throughout the country and among Virginia public schools. English Learners (ELs) had a unique set of needs and services prior to the pandemic, and potentially were more vulnerable to pandemic-related disruptions in typical school operations than other student groups. We analyze statewide, student-level administrative data on the composition of the EL population, the identification for and reclassification out of EL services, and the exit of ELs from public school enrollment in kindergarten through grade twelve between the 2010-11 and 2020-21 school years to examine changes between the pre-pandemic period and first post-pandemic onset year (2020-21). Our key findings include the following (1) Following the onset of the pandemic, the number of students classified as EL decreased for the first time in a decade. Specifically, whereas the number of students classified as EL increased by 26.0% (25,171 more students) between 2010-11 and 2019-20, the number of students classified as EL decreased by 3.2% (3,852 fewer students) between 2019-20 and the first post-pandemic onset year (2020-21). (2) There was a 21.6% decline (6,223 fewer students) in the number of Virginia K-12 public school students newly identified for EL services in 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20. The drop in new EL identification occurred across student groups, but was largest among Hispanic students, economically disadvantaged students, and ninth graders. (3) The number of EL students reclassified as fully English proficient decreased by 57.3% (8,169 fewer students) in 2020-21 as compared to the pre-pandemic period. This decline is nearly three times the size of the previous largest year-to-year change. The drops in reclassification among ELs occurred across student groups and were somewhat larger among Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. (4) EL students' exits from Virginia public schools in the post-pandemic onset were a continuation of pre-pandemic trends and did not meaningfully vary by race/ethnicity, economically disadvantaged status, or disability status.