New Research and Recommendations for Education of English Language Learners

IDRA José A. Cárdenas School Finance Fellows Program Symposium Proceedings Released

June 8, 2015 – IDRA today is releasing the proceedings report of the IDRA José A. Cárdenas School Finance Fellows Program symposium focusing on education of English language learners. IDRA held the symposium, New Research on Securing Educational Equity and Excellence for English Language Learners in Texas Secondary Schools, in February 2015 in partnership with the Office of the President and the Center on Mexican American Studies and Research at Our Lady of the Lake University.

The event gathered more than 80 education and community leaders, and experts in law and education research around the critical question of how to improve secondary education quality and access for English learners. We shared findings from new, original research on the status of education and funding equity for ELL students by Dr. Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, IDRA’s inaugural José A. Cárdenas School Finance Fellow with participants in person and nationally, via webcast, in partnership with NowCast-SA.

The proceedings report presents key insights from the robust discussion among the participants along with the research study conducted by Dr. Jimenez-Castellanos. The report also provides a set of recommendations useful for policymakers, educators, community and business leaders and parents.

Texas middle schools and high schools serve 200,000 English language learners – the fastest-growing segment of the Texas student population. They also are among the least well-served student groups, with the lowest academic achievement. And the achievement gap widens as students progress through school.

This can no longer be the state of affairs in Texas or anywhere in the country. We hope that with the insight provided by this research, the proceedings report, the strength of the District Court ruling in August 2014 asserting that the impact of inadequate funding for education of ELLs must be addressed, and the moral and economic imperative before us, we can secure educational opportunity for our all of students.

See the proceedings report – dynamic digital reader 

See the proceedings report – PDF 

Watch video of the event 

See photos from the symposium

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Call for Applications for IDRA José A. Cárdenas School Finance Fellows Program

IDRA is inviting research applications for the IDRA José A. Cárdenas School Finance Fellows Program. This will be the second round of this new fellows program to support research that will inform efforts to secure equitable funding of public schools across the country.

See the Call for Applications 

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