Compounding Inequalities: English Proficiency and Tracking and Their Relation to Mathematics Performance Among Latina/o Secondary School Youth

Abstract

In this article, the author examines whether disparities in mathematics performance might be exacerbated by the track placement of native and non-native Latina/o English speakers in the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. The effect of track placement on the mathematics performance of English Learners (EL) differed as a function of their level of English proficiency. The scores of Latinas/os with low levels of English proficiency in the general track were similar to the scores of students in the college track with comparable levels of English proficiency. The scores of non-native English speakers in the college track with high levels of English proficiency, however, were higher than those of their peers in the general track and nearly as high as those of native English speakers in the college track. Implications for the potential development of the mathematics language register of ELs are discussed.