Limited English Proficiency

In 1990, the President and governments agreed on six goals for the nation's education system, to be reached by the year 2000. They include first-place standing for U.S. students in math and science internationally and high student achievement in five core academic subjects. At the same time, Congress has become increasingly concerned about the ability of schools to teach the growing numbers of students who speak little or no English. In the last decade, the number of limited English proficient (LEP) students increased by nearly 26 percent. More than 2.3 million LEP students live in the United States, representing a multitude of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This report answers the following questions: (1) What are the characteristics of LEP students, nationally and in selected districts, and the challenges districts face in educating these students? (2) How do selected districts with LEP students from linguistically diverse backgrounds educate these students, including the extent to which academic subjects are taught in the students' native languages? (3) What approaches have been identified as promising when the diversity of languages spoken by students makes native language instruction difficult? (4) Do key federal programs targeted to LEP students provide the types of support that school districts need to implement programs serving these students?

GAO found that: (1) many districts have substantial numbers of LEP students and face significant challenges in educating them; (2) school districts often provide limited support to help LEP students understand academic subjects; (3) almost half of all LEP students are immigrants with little or no education and have significant social, health, and emotional needs; (4) districts cannot provide bilingual instruction to all LEP students, since they have difficulty obtaining bilingual teachers and class materials in most languages; (5) researchers have developed promising approaches to provide academic instruction to LEP students when native language instruction is unavailable, but implementation of these programs will be difficult; and (6) federal programs for LEP students provide support for important activities, but funding is limited.