“New research from the Urban Institute finds that limited English proficient (LEP) students are highly concentrated in a small share of America’s public schools. Seventy percent of LEP students in kindergarten through fifth grade are enrolled in only 10 percent of the country’s public elementary schools. These ‘high-LEP’ schools are located mainly in urban areas and have larger enrollments, larger classes, and higher incidences of student poverty than schools serving low percentages of LEP children. High-LEP schools also generally have less experienced and more uncertified teachers and principals than schools serving fewer LEP students. … [The No Child Left Behind Act] (NCLB) requires schools to report, as a separate group, LEP students’ scores on standardized tests and holds schools accountable for their results. As a result, NCLB is forcing schools to give special attention to the education of LEP and low-income students, two groups that are growing rapidly as a result of immigration-led changes in the makeup of the nation’s child population.” – Publisher’s description
