Because students were not randomly assigned to the program, Johnson used a method that compared student outcomes before and after participation in the program. The study contributes to the research on ELs by examining newcomers separately from those that have been in the U.S. for several years. ELs who have recently arrived need different types of services, the author writes. She adds that schools and districts don’t typically report data on these groups separately and “policy research addressing EL subgroups is scarce.”
