Hawai‘i’s English Learners

Education outcomes of Hawai‘i public school students who are identified as English Learners (ELs).

1. Introduction

Hawai‘i is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse states in the country. Through a partnership with the Hawai‘i State Department of Education (DOE), Hawai‘i Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Data Disaggregation Grant, P-20 created this report to tell the story of English Learner (EL) and AAPI students in Hawai‘i’s public schools. The following sections explore the linguistic diversity of Hawai‘i’s public schools and examine academic outcomes and best practices for supporting these students.

How many languages do students in Hawai‘i speak?

The graphic below shows the various languages used by public school students, with the larger and bolder text representing languages that are most commonly used.

School Year to View:

How to use the charts?

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Some charts have interactive legends, meaning you may click on a series within the legend to show/hide that data series.
You may hover your mouse over the chart bars to see more information about that data point.

2. How many ELs are in Hawai‘i?

Source: Official enrollment count and end of-year demographic data.

How is EL status determined?

When students enter public school, if their family indicates they use a language other than English, they are given an English proficiency test.

Active EL – Students who do not test proficient receive EL services to support English language acquisition, and are tested each year.
Monitored EL – Once students meet minimum English proficiency they no longer receive EL services but are monitored for two years to make sure that they receive instructional support as needed.
Former EL – After being monitored for two years, students are considered Former EL.

How does the EL population in Hawai‘i compare to the nation?

3. Where are ELs located?

Source: Official enrollment count and end-of-year demographic data.
“Maui Region” includes Lana‘i and Moloka‘i and “Kaua‘i Region” includes Ni‘ihau.

+ Click to view data table

Order By: Complex Complex and Region

Source: Official enrollment count and end-of-year demographic data.

4. What languages do ELs speak?

Graph limited to languages spoken by at least 30 Active ELs.

Source: Official enrollment count and end-of-year demographic data.

Graph limited to the 20 DOE complexes with the largest counts of Active ELs.

Source: Official enrollment count and end-of-year demographic data.

Languages and the 3-character language code used within the chart
Code	Language
CAN	Cantonese
CHU	Chuukese
ILO	Ilokano
JPN	Japanese
KOS	Kosraean
MAN	Mandarin
MAR	Marshallese
SAM	Samoan
SPA	Spanish
TAG	Tagalog

5. How do ELs do in high school and college?

High School Outcomes

On-time graduation tracks whether a 9th grade cohort earns a high school diploma within four years. The pie chart below shows us that nearly one in four high school students were either Active EL in high school or had already exited EL before starting high school.

Source: On-time graduation file and K-12 demographics.

The chart above includes the most commonly used languages among Active ELs in the state.

Source: On-time graduation file and K-12 demographics.

College Outcomes

Generally, students who Exited EL Before High School are more likely to enroll in college immediately in the first fall after high school than students who were Never EL.

Missing bars indicate that data has been suppressed to protect student privacy.

Source: On-time graduation file and K-12 demographics.

Overall, students who Exited EL Before High School are most likely to complete college (earn a college degree or certificate) within six years of high school.

Missing bars indicate that data has been suppressed to protect student privacy.

Source: On-time graduation file and K-12 demographics.

6. What did we learn?

Key Findings:

About 17% of Hawai‘i’s public school students are, or have been ELs.
While 9% of students statewide are Active ELs receiving services, in some geographic areas the rate is as high as 28%.
Hawai‘i’s ELs represent over 70 different languages, with Ilokano, Chuukese, Marshallese, and Tagalog being the most common.
Students who were Active ELs in high school are less likely to graduate than students who were not EL, and they need additional academic and language support to meet graduation requirements, especially for Marshallese and Chuukese EL students.
Students who exit EL services (because they have demonstrated English proficiency) before high school have better outcomes than students who are not EL.
For students who exit EL services before high school:
- 90% graduated high school on-time, compared to 86% for non-ELs.
- 62% enrolled in college in the first fall after high school, compared to 55% for non-ELs; and
- 38% completed a college award within six years, compared to 29% for non-ELs.

Key EL Best Practices

Professional Development

All teachers and EL Coordinators need professional development that:
- Occurs within a learning community;
- Is sustained and job-embedded;
- Requires skillful leaders who can advocate for and support professional learning;
- Integrates theory, research, and application; and
- Aligns with student outcomes and curriculum.
All teachers and EL Coordinators should continually develop their skills in supporting ELs related to:
- Understanding second language acquisition/progression;
- Exemplifying principles for teaching EL students;
- Using student ACCESS for ELLs(™) assessment data to inform instruction based on English proficiency levels (1.0-6.0) in the domains of listening, speaking, reading, writing, and Overall composite scores;
- Adopting an evidence-based English Language Development (ELD) curriculum;
- Designing lessons for ELs using WIDA Standards and/or WIDA Can Do Descriptors for students at different proficiency levels;
- Developing knowledge of students’ cultures and linguistically and culturally responsive teaching strategies;
- Enacting lesson differentiation and scaffolding strategies across content areas for each level of English proficiency;
- Accessing data, data literacy, training on navigating LDS, knowledge of how to navigate LDS to use data for instruction and how to use WIDA Can Do Reports; and
- Gathering and using qualitative data on students (personality, learning style, family situation, cultural assets, future goals, adjustment/transition issues) with student profiles and surveys.
ESL/ELD teachers must have a valid Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) License in the grade level they are assigned to teach.
All K-12 teachers must meet the Sheltered Instruction Qualification requirement to appropriately support EL students across the content areas.
WIDA English language development supports (sensory, graphic and interactive) are needed for all EL students, differentiated for different proficiency levels and needs in all classrooms.
Developing home language skills promotes bilingualism and biliteracy.
More project-based, place-based, and culturally responsive learning opportunities with authentic assessments should be provided.

Data-Driven Instruction

Overall, there are a variety of key quantitative and qualitative data points that teachers must utilize in order to effectively instruct EL students.
To access these data, teachers need strong data literacy skills to effectively navigate LDS, and teachers need to get to know their students on an individual level by gathering personal information.
By accessing LDS reports on EL students’ English proficiency scores; number of ACCESS assessments; and Growth to Target (GTT) data, and by using that data to inform instruction, teachers can provide a learning environment that builds academic language proficiency.
By gathering individual data on students’ home cultures, interests, personalities, learning styles, and goals, teachers can plan instruction that better engages students and incorporates their personal and cultural knowledge.
Together, all of these key data points can best inform EL teaching and learning.

The following teacher actions for using key data points to inform student instruction will result in the following student outcomes:

If	Then
If teachers know which specific domain the EL student is struggling with (i.e., ACCESS, SBA, i-Ready, STAR, etc),	then they can provide targeted supports to increase students’ domain scores and related data points.
If teachers know our students’ strengths and needs based on ACCESS scores and learning styles,	then they will be enabled and empowered to effectively differentiate for ELs and set reasonable and achievable academic goals.
If teachers know more about our EL students’ history,	then they will be able to enhance relationships which will consequently increase student engagement and improve attendance.
If teachers know our students’ interests and develop lessons that are relevant to students,	then students would feel connected and engaged to apply understanding & knowledge across other content areas.
If teachers provide students with opportunities to use their native language,	then students would be able to participate and demonstrate their understanding.

(Harvey, Wiegand, DeGre, 2020)

Access to Schoolwide Programs

Educators should provide access to a variety of college and career pathways:
- Trades,
- Career technical education (CTE),
- Gifted and talented (GT) programs, and
- Early college and higher education.
Whole child, student-focused, engaging instruction supports ELs.
Family and community engagement is key to supporting ELs.

Other Resources

Key Findings:

About 18% of Hawai‘i’s public school students are, or have been ELs.
While 10% of students statewide are Active ELs receiving services, in some geographic areas the rate is as high as 32%.
Hawai‘i’s ELs represent over 70 different languages, with Ilokano, Chuukese, Marshallese, and Tagalog being the most common.
Students who were Active ELs in high school are less likely to graduate than students who were not EL, and they need additional academic and language support to meet graduation requirements, especially for Marshallese and Chuukese EL students.
Students who exit EL services (because they have demonstrated English proficiency) before high school have better outcomes than students who are not EL.
For students who exit EL services before high school:
- 88% graduated high school on-time, compared to 88% for non-ELs.
- 56% enrolled in college in the first fall after high school, compared to 51% for non-ELs; and
- 46% completed a college award within six years, compared to 31% for non-ELs.

Key EL Best Practices

English Learner Best Practices Organized by TESOL’s 6 Principles for Effective EL Instruction

1. Know Your Learners
- Collect and Analyze Data from a Variety of Sources:
  - Formal data systems combined with classroom data and observation to deepen teacher understanding of students’ needs, family dynamics, learning styles, educational history, interests, hobbies, and backgrounds to better tailor instruction and incorporate their learners’ personal knowledge; and
  - Longitudinal Data System reports such as the Can Do Report with students’ English proficiency scores; number of ACCESS assessments; and Growth to Target (GTT) data, and use that data to inform instruction.
- Provide Culturally Responsive Sheltered Instruction to access and respond to students’ prior background knowledge, personal experiences, cultural knowledge and assets.
- Understand second language acquisition and progression.
- Foster development of home language skills to promote bilingualism and biliteracy.
2. Create Conditions For Language Learning
- Create a classroom culture where students feel comfortable.
- Make decisions regarding the physical environment, the materials, visuals and supports, and the social integration of students to promote language learning.
- Provide explicit guided instruction (I do, We do, You do) to move from teacher-centered demonstration, to whole group student-centered collaborative work with support, to independent practice.
- Deliver content or lessons in small chunks (i.e. 10 minutes) and follow up with 2 minutes to “chew” on the information by responding to or engaging with prompts and reflective discussion questions.
- Build students’ background knowledge on topics to support comprehension and connect to previous learning while emphasizing key academic language.
- School leaders foster a school-wide approach to supporting English Learners and ensure teachers are provided with professional learning opportunities.
3. Design High Quality Lessons for Language Development
- Plan for both language and content objectives in the Purposeful Lesson Planning process:
  - Design language objectives to promote students’ academic language development and four language domains of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
- Attend to the functions and features of academic language including grammar in order to directly support students in language learning (i.e. language use, patterns, syntax, morphology, phonology, parts of speech, and semantics).
- Utilize different strategies when grouping students for reading (Expert Groups, heterogeneous reading groups, mixed ability reading groups) to allow students of various reading levels to listen to other’s metacognitive processes and fluency.
- Engage students in collaborative conversations while providing differentiated scaffolds for vocabulary, sentence and/or discourse structures (i.e. sentence frames, word banks) in order to support students in communicating ideas.
- Plan for intentional grouping (i.e. AB partners, buddy reading, small group instruction).
- Incorporate all forms of literature, i.e. drama, songs, chants and poetry to engage in a variety of learning styles, support memory, and make learning fun.
- Utilize graphic supports such as input/anchor charts, graphic organizers, Pictorial, Narrative, and Comparative Charts to scaffold and organize ideas, vocabulary and content knowledge in a clear, organized structure.
4. Adapt Lesson Delivery As Needed
- Observe and reflect on learners’ responses to learning if students struggle or are not challenged enough, consider the possible reasons, and adjust or re-teach lessons accordingly.
- Plan for intentional and purposeful questioning utilizing higher-order thinking skills to check student comprehension.
- Consider a student’s stage of language acquisition to adapt lessons.
5. Monitor and Assess Student Language Development
- Provide authentic assessments aligned to student interest, choice based, project-based, place-based, and culturally responsive learning opportunities.
- Utilize student ACCESS for ELLs (™) assessment data along with formative and summative data to inform instruction.
6. Engage and Collaborate within a Community of Practice
- Provide ample time for planning high quality lessons and engage in teacher self-reflection (i.e. using Teacher Self-Reflection Tool) or classroom observations (i.e. using EL-03 Classroom Observation Form) to provide teachers with meaningful and direct feedback to inform growth and professional development (PD).
- Work with grade level teams to develop formative/summative assessments and reflect on implementation outcomes to adapt lessons.
- Connect and engage with families and the community to support ELs.
- Utilize best practices for PD:
  - Provide pathways for teachers to become Hawaii Qualified in TESOL and Sheltered Instruction Qualified.
  - Ensure PD:
    - Occurs within a learning community;
    - Is sustained and job-embedded;
    - Integrates theory, research, and application; and
    - Aligns with student outcomes and curriculum.
  - All teachers and EL Coordinators continually develop their skills in supporting ELs related to:
    - Evidence-based English Language Development (ELD) curriculum and pedagogy;
    - Designing lessons for ELs using WIDA ELD Standards and/or WIDA Can Do Descriptors for students at different proficiency levels;
    - Techniques and strategies that enable lesson differentiation and scaffolding (sensory, graphic, and interactive supports) across content areas and levels of English proficiency; and
    - Gathering and applying qualitative data on students (student profiles, interests, personalities, learning styles, family dynamics, cultural assets, future goals, adjustment/transition experiences).
Other Resources
- Hawaii State EL Guidance Manual
- SY 2018-19 Hawaii EL Infographic: Demographics and State Initiatives

Hawai‘i English Learners’ Data Story

Data Story

English Learners

Hawai‘i’s English Learners

1. Introduction

2. How many ELs are in Hawai‘i?

3. Where are ELs located?

4. What languages do ELs speak?

5. How do ELs do in high school and college?

High School Outcomes

College Outcomes

6. What did we learn?

Key Findings:

Next Steps/Key EL Supports:

Key Findings:

Next Steps/Key EL Supports:

Key Findings:

Key EL Best Practices

Key Findings:

Key EL Best Practices

English Learner Best Practices Organized by TESOL’s 6 Principles for Effective EL Instruction