The estimated effects of waiving English learner services on course-taking and graduation

A nascent body of research has begun to explore the characteristics of students whose families waive EL services and the relationship between waiving English learner services and student outcomes. Drawing on longitudinal student-level data from Oregon, we used coarsened exact matching to provide the first estimated effects of waiving EL services on course-taking and graduation. We found that waiving resulted in students taking fewer English Language Development credits, fewer credits overall, and, in most models, more elective credits. For students who waived EL services specifically in 12th grade, we found large, statistically significant increases in the odds of graduating and receiving a regular diploma, as well as a meaningful reduction in the odds of pushout. However, looking across all high school years, waiving EL services at any point in high school had no significant effect on most graduation and pushout outcomes. We discuss implications for policy and practice.