Unprecedented numbers of students at Evanston Township High School need support learning in English, but school efforts to increase this proficiency are paying off with higher percentages of students passing academic English tests.
The percentage of ETHS students who need help with English doubled from 5.3% to 10.6% of students in the last three years, following statewide trends. The percentage of students testing proficient by the end of high school also rose, though, increasing above state levels.
The majority of students who need help learning English are native Spanish speakers, but a total of 45 languages are spoken by those who fall into the “emergent multilingual,” or EM, category.
Why the increase?
Lindsey Rose, ETHS multilingual services director, presented the figures at the District 202 Board of Education meeting Monday night, attributing the increase to two things: more newly enrolled students and better identification of those who fit the emerging multilingual category.
“Over the last two years, we’ve enrolled more newcomers than the last four school years combined,” Rose said.
They’ve also expanded their ability to document emerging multilingual status students.
Students who have the potential to fall in this category are screened with language tests and home surveys. The school also obtains the records for students who already have an emerging multilingual status from District 65.
Rose doesn’t expect the numbers to continue increasing, but rather level out with even distribution of emerging multilingual students across grade levels.
Proficiency low but rising
The percentage of students earning proficient scores in English on the annual ACCESS test has risen significantly since creation of the multilingual services department in 2022.
Although the percentage is still low, just 1.5% of emerging multilingual students passed the test in 2022 compared to 6.7% in 2024. This percentage is also higher than the state average.
“This is a shining example of what a school board needs to hear,” said board member Gretchen Livingston.
Serving emerging multilingual students
Of the emerging multilingual students at ETHS, 15% have been in the United States three years or less.
“Sheltered courses,” which incorporate English language instruction and core curriculum topics like math, history and science, are offered for newcomer students. At ETHS, 65 students are enrolled in two or more of these sheltered courses.
The rest of the emerging multilingual students have been here longer.
Of the emerging multilingual students who have been learning English for six or more years, 80% are Spanish speakers who were enrolled in dual language education at District 65.
These students spent 50% to 90% of their school days learning in Spanish before arriving at ETHS, according to Rose.
“Given the investment in their literacy and academic skills in Spanish, It’s not surprising that they enroll in ninth grade and are still developing academic skills in English,” Rose said. Their transition is “abrupt.”
For these students, ETHS offers two options. Classes are available for freshmen and sophomores — and juniors starting next year — that center language development in English language arts.
Students who need more help get instruction in direct special education support settings.
Multilingualism as an asset
Because students who’ve spent so long learning in both languages abruptly transition to just English, Rose explained that it renders their experience and investment in Spanish learning as somewhat useless.
In an attempt to support bilingualism as an asset at the high school, Rose’s team also developed a program in which those involved will take new Spanish Language Arts courses, capped with a class giving them dual credit in partnership with Lake Forest College.
ETHS researched the idea by checking out a similar program at Highland Park High School and sent representatives to a national dual language program conference.
The school still needs to hire teachers and choose content before launching classes, but the dual program is on the way.
“While there’s still a lot of work ahead for our team, we’re very excited about the incredibly important foundational steps we took to plant the seeds of a dual language program here,” Rose said.
Share of ETHS students needing English help doubles is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.