New report: More English-language learners in Iowa schools
The number of Iowa students with limited English-speaking skills has skyrocketed over time but their test scores have fallen, according to an Iowa Department of Education report released today.
About 14,000 students who were classified as English language learners – most speak Spanish – lost ground in every test category except fourth-grade reading from 2005 to 2008.
The figures were included in the annual Condition of Education report.
Eleventh-grade math scores showed the biggest decline.
The percentage of English language learners who passed 11th grade math tests between 2006 and 2008 was 38.6 percent, down from 44.2 percent between 2005 and 2007.
By contrast, 78 percent of all eleventh graders passed math tests in the same period.
The report calculates test scores over two years instead of annually. Iowa’s share of students who are learning the English language has more than doubled to 14,000 over the past decade.
They represented about 3 percent of Iowa’s public school enrollment in the 2007-08 school year, records show.
School districts receive federal money for each English language-learner for three years. Census figures earlier this year showed Iowa gained more than 36,000 Hispanic residents since 2000.
