Language should build bridges, not barriers.
We’re creating equitable communities for English learners in Massachusetts public schools so that academic achievement and post-secondary educational attainment are the norm, not the exception.
The Massachusetts English Learner Community Foundation’s mission is to raise English learners’ academic outcomes, postsecondary opportunities, and success, by providing academic support, college access, and mentoring in Massachusetts public schools.
Our workFor many school districts in Massachusetts, the percentage of English learners (ELs) continues to increase. In the 2019-2020 school year in the Boston Public Schools, 31% of the student body were identified as ELs.
In comparison to their academic counterparts, K-12 English learners (ELs) in Massachusetts, continue to struggle academically. In 2022, the EL dropout rate was 16 %, over five times the percentage of their White peers. The EL four-year graduation rate, meaning students who begin as freshmen in their respective high schools, was 71% in 2022. Compared to the overall graduation rate for all Massachusetts high school students, EL graduation rates were approximately twenty percentage points behind their academic peers (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website).
Our plan for growth is ambitious. Developing district partnerships and effective K-12 programming will require strong design, implementation, and staffing. We are launching our partnerships and program support by partnering with targeted school districts in Greater Boston.
Defining the model, determining the level of staffing required, and achieving operational excellence will take time, but program support in targeted school districts will quickly reveal gaps that need filling and strength areas that can be replicated as we bring program partnerships to more districts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and nationally.
