The Estimated Impact of a State English Learner Accountability and Support Policy on District and Student Outcomes in Oregon

Abstract

In Oregon, the passage of a state-level policy designed to support districts identified as struggling to support students classified as English learners (EL), House Bill (HB) 3499, created the conditions to study the combined effect of additional funding, technical assistance and accountability on EL-classified students’ outcomes. Using an event study and difference-in-differences specification, I estimate the impact of HB 3499 identification on a set of outcomes in identified districts in the first three years following policy implementation. Overall, I find that HB 3499 identification led to an increase in EL expenditures per EL-classified student at the district level. However, HB 3499 identification resulted in no significant change in the district ratio of teachers who were English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsed to EL-classified students. Identification also did not change the probability that an EL-classified student received bilingual services, nor result in significant changes in academic outcomes for EL-classified students in identified districts in the first three years after identification. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that the observed increase in expenditures per EL-classified students was concentrated among districts that received a less intensive intervention. Overall, findings point to a need for interventions that are larger in scope if meaningful shifts in outcomes are to be observed, although the litany of null findings may also be evidence of the longer time horizon needed to see meaningful changes in the educational environments and outcomes of EL-classified students.