ELs who did not reach proficiency by eighth grade showed continued growth but started first grade with much lower ACCESS scores, and rising grade-level thresholds meant they never met the proficiency cut¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associationalr?·q2
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2024: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Students who did not demonstrate proficiency by eighth grade began first grade with ACCESS scores lower on average than students who eventually passed, and although their skills increased each year, they never scored high enough to meet the rising proficiency threshold. → de la Torre 2019
q2 i? These students showed larger NWEA-MAP reading gains in grades 3-8 than eighth graders who reached proficiency and students never classified as ELs, but had lower attendance in middle grades, lower Freshman OnTrack rates, and considerably lower GPAs. → de la Torre 2019 (2)
Evidence¶
de la Torre 2019¶
de la Torre, M., Blanchard, A., Allensworth, E.M., & Freire, S. (2019). English Learners in CPS: A new perspective. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu
q2 · i? · associational · r?
Descriptive analysis of ACCESS growth in grades K-3 for students who did not reach proficiency, compared to EL peers with average achievement who passed and exited. The report explains the mechanism as rising grade-level cut scores. No effect size is printed.
"students who did not demonstrate proficiency by eighth grade began first grade with scores on the ACCESS that were, on average, lower than those of students who eventually passed the ACCESS exam. Subsequently, because at each grade level students need to get higher scores to demonstrate proficiency on the test, they never scored high enough to meet the proficiency threshold, even though their academic skills increased each year."
de la Torre 2019 (2)¶
de la Torre, M., Blanchard, A., Allensworth, E.M., & Freire, S. (2019). English Learners in CPS: A new perspective. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu
q2 · i? · associational · r?
Descriptive comparison of academic trajectories for the non-proficient-by-eighth-grade group across attendance, math test gains, course grades, and Freshman OnTrack. The report states their overall GPAs were considerably lower than both comparison groups. No effect size is printed.
"Gains on NWEA-MAP reading tests in grades 3-8 were larger for active ELs in eighth grade than those of eighth graders who did reach proficiency and students who were never classified as ELs."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- More than half of students who began as ELs passed the ACCESS proficiency exam by third grade and three-fourths by fifth grade; students who had not passed by fifth grade were unlikely to pass before high school — related
- Publicly reported statistics based only on active ELs give a biased picture of EL performance because proficient students exit the subgroup — related
- Students who began kindergarten as English Learners had similar achievement and growth, and higher attendance, compared to students never classified as ELs — related
- GPAs were very similar for students who did and did not enter CPS as ELs, with a reading-grade gap that closed by seventh grade and similar Freshman OnTrack rates — related
- Students who began as ELs were not overidentified for special education services relative to students never classified as ELs — related
- Low English proficiency screener scores in pre-k relate to lower academic performance but not to attendance — related
- Students who began as ELs and demonstrated proficiency by eighth grade had academic outcomes similar to or higher than students never classified as ELs — related
- English learner students were more often identified at risk overall, but those with low English proficiency on ACCESS were not necessarily below benchmark; a little over one third of English learners meeting benchmark scored at the two lowest ACCESS proficiency levels — related
- Students who meet Criterion 1 achieve at the same level whether they remain in EL status or exit, suggesting retention in EL status after proficiency provides no clear academic benefit — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
non-proficient-els-low-first-grade-access-growth |
title |
ELs who did not reach proficiency by eighth grade showed continued growth but started first grade with much lower ACCESS scores, and rising grade-level thresholds meant they never met the proficiency cut |
description |
ELs who did not reach proficiency by eighth grade showed continued growth but started first grade with much lower ACCESS scores, and rising grade-level thresholds meant they never met the proficiency cut |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2019 |
recheck_by |
2024 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-08 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — de-la-torre-2019, de-la-torre-2019-2 |
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