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From http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/03/09-wisconsin-english-language-learners-knowles

Reclassifying English Language Learners: What’s the effect on Wisconsin high schoolers?
by Deven Carlson and Jared Knowles
March 9, 2016

Reclassifying a student as fully English proficient changes several aspects of students’ educational environment. At the high school level, reclassification has the potential to put students on an educational track that has access to resources that better prepare them for postsecondary education. On the other hand, exiting ELL status often eliminates access to instructional accommodations and supports tailored to promote these students’ success.

…We estimate the effect of reclassification by taking advantage of Wisconsin’s policy that automatically reclassifies students who score above the proficiency threshold on the ACCESS exam. In particular, we compare the outcomes of students who score just above the proficiency threshold—most of whom are reclassified as fully proficient—to the outcomes of their peers who fall just short and are likely to remain classified as ELLs in 11th grade. This design allows us to make causal claims about the impact of being reclassified by the beginning of 11th grade for those students who scored near the proficiency threshold on the ACCESS.

For these students, we find that reclassification increases students’ composite ACT score by about one full point. Most of this increase is attributable to improved performance on the English and reading portions of the ACT. Our results also indicate that reclassification increases postsecondary enrollment in the fall after high school graduation, with the increase largely due to increased enrollment at four-year institutions.

Read the full article at http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/03/09-wisconsin-english-language-learners-knowles