Educational Policy· 2026Q1
Unforgetting Educational Debt: Systemic Drivers of English Literacy Inequities for Multilingual Learners
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- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Higher chronic absenteeism and more underqualified teachers predict lower English Language Arts scores for multilingual learners (MLs), while greater instructional investment per teacher predicts higher scores (n=1,929 schools).
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Key points
- Chronic absenteeism and underqualified teachers significantly predict lower ML English Language Arts scores.
- Higher instructional investment per teacher is associated with higher ML English Language Arts scores.
- School-level factors like absenteeism and teacher qualifications are more influential than district-level per-pupil expenditure in predicting ML literacy outcomes.
- ML English literacy gaps are reframed as institutional failures requiring policy attention.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Multilingual learners (MLs) remain persistently underserved in U.S. schools, yet systemic conditions shaping their English literacy outcomes are underexamined. Grounded in ecological systems theory and educational debt, this study used multilevel modeling of 2023 to 2024 data from 1,929 Georgia schools nested within 205 districts to examine whether chronic absenteeism, teacher readiness, instructional investment per teacher, and per-student investment predicted MLs’ Georgia Milestones English Language Arts performance. Within districts, higher chronic absenteeism (β = −.368, p < .001) and more underqualified teachers (β = −.431, p < .001) predicted lower scores, whereas higher instructional investment per teacher predicted higher scores (β = .234, p < .001). In between-district models, chronic absenteeism and per-pupil expenditure were significant, but these effects became non-significant after school-level conditions were controlled. Findings reframe ML English literacy gaps as institutional failures requiring policy attention to attendance infrastructure, teacher preparation, and instructional investment equity.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Educational Policy, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Linguistics and Language
Linguistics and LanguageSocial Sciences