New statewide data shows there are 163,175 English Learners enrolled at North Carolina schools. That’s about 15,000 fewer than last year.
But state leaders say the number decreased due to last year’s changes in the criteria that made it easier for students to test out of English Learner status.
State Board of Education member Jill Camnitz said the changes are “significant steps toward accurately identifying students who require continued language support.”
The report identified 29,314 English Learners at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, down from around 33,000 last year. CMS has the most English Learners in the state.
The changes included lowering the score needed to test out of EL status.
Last year, Kristi Day, the state’s director of academic standards, told the board they’d heard from schools about frustrated students who were struggling to meet the necessary grade on the assessment that measures EL status — even as they were otherwise excelling in their day-to-day academics.
“We hear that very often, that students are doing very well, they may be taking AP courses or honors courses and they’re able to access that grade-level content, they just have trouble on that assessment," Day told the board.
