Series 2013-09D
January 2013
English Language Learners
Florida Statutes define an English Language Learner (ELL) as “an individual who was not born in the United
States and whose native language is a language other than English; an individual who comes from a home
environment where a language other than English is spoken in the home; or an individual who is an American
Indian or Alaskan native and who comes from an environment where a language other than English has had a
significant impact on his or her level of English language proficiency; and who, by reason thereof, has sufficient
difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or listening to the English language to deny such individual the opportunity to
learn successfully in classrooms where the language of instruction is English” (section 1003.56(2)). States and
local school districts receive federal aid under Title III, also known as the English Language Acquisition,
Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act, of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to assist in
implementing education programs for ELLs. National leadership in ELL education is administered by the Office of
English Language Acquisition of the U.S. Department of Education.
Except for a slight decrease in 2008-09, the percentage of ELL students in Florida’s public schools continued on a
gradual, long-term upward trend for the last decade. The ten-year numerical increase during this period amounts
to 54,837 students (197,059 in 2003-04 vs. 251,896 in 2012-13), a cumulative increase of 27.8 percent in ten
years. Eleven districts reported ten percent or more of their enrollment as ELL in 2012-13, compared to only six
districts in 2003-04. District-level information for 2012-13 and 2003-04 is in Table 3 below.
In 2012-13, Miami-Dade County had the highest percentage of ELL students (20.9 percent). Dixie and Gulf
counties reported no ELL students. Orange County had the largest percentage gain in ELL students, from 6.8
percent in 2003-04 to 13.6 percent in 2012-13.
Figure 1: Ten-Year Comparison
Note: Variability in factors such as the date of data compilation and certain selection criteria may result in slight differences
between results reported for Florida by NCES and corresponding statewide results reported for Florida public schools by the
Florida Department of Education.
Florida Department of Education
Tony Bennett, Commissioner
Race/Ethnicity Distribution
Among racial/ethnic groups in 2012-13, the Hispanic/Latino population had the largest percentage of ELL
students (24.6% of all Hispanic/Latino students), followed by the Asian population with 15.1%. The
Hispanic/Latino and Two or More Races populations have shown decreases in their percentages of ELL students
over the past ten years. Tables 1 and 2 provide additional detail.
Table 1: Percentage of ELL Students in Each Racial/Ethnic Category
School Year
School Year
Race/Ethnicity*
2012-13
2003-04
White
1.17%
0.96%
Black or African American
5.26%
4.41%
Hispanic/Latino
24.58%
26.11%
Asian
15.05%
13.51%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
11.37%
NA
American Indian or Alaska Native
6.93%
2.88%
Two or More Races
1.41%
2.82%
Total
9.36%
7.54%
*Please see page two of our “Membership in Florida’s Public Schools, Fall 2012” data report for an explanation of
the new racial/ethnic categories implemented in the 2011-12 school year.
Table 2: ELL Students by Race/Ethnicity and Difference from 2003-04 to 2012-13
Race/Ethnicity
White
Black or African American
Hispanic/Latino
Asian
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
American Indian or Alaska Native
Two or More Races
2012-13
2003-04
Difference
5.22%
12.90%
76.89%
4.12%
0.14%
0.26%
0.47%
6.30%
13.98%
75.09%
3.64%
-1.08%
-1.08%
1.80%
0.48%
0.11%
0.88%
0.15%
-0.41%
Figure 2: ELL Representation by Race, 2012-13
Additional district-level data are shown in Table 3 on the following page.
2
Table 3: Number and Percentage of English Language Learner (ELL) PK-12 Students in Florida
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
DISTRICT
ALACHUA
BAKER
BAY
BRADFORD
BREVARD
BROWARD
CALHOUN
CHARLOTTE
CITRUS
CLAY
COLLIER
COLUMBIA
MIAMI-DADE
DESOTO
DIXIE
DUVAL
ESCAMBIA
FLAGLER
FRANKLIN
GADSDEN
GILCHRIST
GLADES
GULF
HAMILTON
HARDEE
HENDRY
HERNANDO
HIGHLANDS
HILLSBOROUGH
HOLMES
INDIAN RIVER
JACKSON
JEFFERSON
LAFAYETTE
LAKE
LEE
LEON
LEVY
LIBERTY
MADISON
MANATEE
MARION
MARTIN
MONROE
NASSAU
OKALOOSA
OKEECHOBEE
ORANGE
OSCEOLA
PALM BEACH
PASCO
PINELLAS
POLK
PUTNAM
ST. JOHNS
ST. LUCIE
SANTA ROSA
SARASOTA
SEMINOLE
SUMTER
SUWANNEE
TAYLOR
UNION
VOLUSIA
WAKULLA
WALTON
WASHINGTON
SUBTOTAL (1-67)
FLORIDA*
TOTAL
MEMBERSHIP
27,788
4,982
26,634
3,272
71,217
260,234
2,264
16,352
15,265
35,056
43,790
9,794
354,236
4,751
2,044
125,662
40,669
12,920
1,267
6,077
2,571
1,508
1,930
1,660
5,068
6,822
22,220
12,067
200,287
3,326
18,011
6,920
1,039
1,189
41,478
85,783
33,431
5,660
1,466
2,647
46,136
41,991
18,683
8,358
11,077
29,786
6,496
183,021
56,369
179,494
67,151
103,596
96,943
11,074
32,429
39,494
25,879
41,094
64,368
7,990
5,995
2,788
2,289
61,054
5,017
7,811
3,433
2,679,173
2,691,322
2012-13
TOTAL
ELL
PERCENT
ELL
502
6
474
2
2,277
25,723
15
245
135
550
6,205
91
74,039
501
1.8%
0.1%
1.8%
0.1%
3.2%
9.9%
0.7%
1.5%
0.9%
1.6%
14.2%
0.9%
20.9%
10.5%
0.0%
3.3%
1.2%
2.2%
1.4%
6.2%
2.3%
5.4%
0.0%
7.5%
8.3%
12.7%
2.7%
5.9%
12.4%
0.2%
6.2%
0.8%
1.5%
5.8%
4.1%
7.7%
1.8%
3.4%
1.2%
0.3%
9.7%
4.8%
12.9%
7.5%
0.9%
2.4%
13.1%
13.6%
18.3%
11.3%
4.1%
5.1%
10.6%
6.7%
0.7%
7.0%
0.6%
5.9%
3.7%
3.6%
4.3%
0.1%
0.2%
5.1%
0.1%
3.2%
0.7%
9.4%
9.4%
4,185
482
280
18
378
58
82
125
423
867
605
708
24,768
7
1,109
55
16
69
1,687
6,615
597
193
18
7
4,462
2,024
2,419
631
95
719
854
24,968
10,315
20,242
2,742
5,236
10,259
739
237
2,783
159
2,439
2,357
290
260
4
5
3,142
4
251
23
251,776
251,896
TOTAL
MEMBERSHIP
29,422
4,606
26,686
3,897
73,849
272,782
2,224
18,268
15,502
31,368
40,145
9,780
371,691
4,975
2,169
129,553
43,981
8,562
1,347
6,946
2,833
1,012
2,150
2,057
4,970
7,658
19,584
11,660
181,755
3,383
16,620
7,183
1,485
1,035
33,988
66,429
32,194
6,191
1,405
3,245
40,254
40,323
17,774
9,123
10,544
31,017
7,275
165,881
43,907
170,220
57,498
114,466
84,066
12,237
23,150
32,794
24,421
39,517
64,854
6,857
5,857
3,560
2,171
64,046
4,728
6,522
3,425
2,591,077
2,598,278
2003-04
TOTAL
ELL
450
3
228
16
1,133
29,612
2
165
97
203
5,757
31
62,956
426
4
2,936
324
239
7
405
10
44
1
67
439
645
291
487
18,928
10
647
33
1
27
1,349
6,581
324
158
8
25
2,548
1,230
1,666
570
26
171
432
11,307
6,900
19,601
1,663
3,094
4,057
454
124
1,728
69
1,716
1,935
272
127
6
3
2,081
5
85
0
196,939
197,059
PERCENT
ELL
1.5%
0.1%
0.9%
0.4%
1.5%
10.9%
0.1%
0.9%
0.6%
0.6%
14.3%
0.3%
16.9%
8.6%
0.2%
2.3%
0.7%
2.8%
0.5%
5.8%
0.4%
4.3%
0.0%
3.3%
8.8%
8.4%
1.5%
4.2%
10.4%
0.3%
3.9%
0.5%
0.1%
2.6%
4.0%
9.9%
1.0%
2.6%
0.6%
0.8%
6.3%
3.1%
9.4%
6.2%
0.2%
0.6%
5.9%
6.8%
15.7%
11.5%
2.9%
2.7%
4.8%
3.7%
0.5%
5.3%
0.3%
4.3%
3.0%
4.0%
2.2%
0.2%
0.1%
3.2%
0.1%
1.3%
0.0%
7.6%
7.6%
PERCENT
CHANGE
11.6%
100.0%
107.9%
-87.5%
101.0%
-13.1%
650.0%
48.5%
39.2%
170.9%
7.8%
193.5%
17.6%
17.6%
-100.0%
42.5%
48.8%
17.2%
157.1%
-6.7%
480.0%
86.4%
-100.0%
86.6%
-3.6%
34.4%
107.9%
45.4%
30.9%
-30.0%
71.4%
66.7%
1500.0%
155.6%
25.1%
0.5%
84.3%
22.2%
125.0%
-72.0%
75.1%
64.6%
45.2%
10.7%
265.4%
320.5%
97.7%
120.8%
49.5%
3.3%
64.9%
69.2%
152.9%
62.8%
91.1%
61.1%
130.4%
42.1%
21.8%
6.6%
104.7%
-33.3%
66.7%
51.0%
-20.0%
195.3%
27.8%
27.8%
*State totals include the special districts: Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, Washington Special, Florida Virtual, FAU Lab Schools, FSU Charter Schools,
FAMU Lab School, and UF Lab School.
Source: Florida Department of Education, Student Demographic Information records compiled during fall reporting surveys for years shown. ELL statistics for
2012-13 are current as of 12/14/12.
3
Florida and the Nation
Figure 3: Percent of Students who are English Language Learners, 2010-11
In 2010-11, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES),* 2,981,610 students (6.0%) in reporting
states and the District of Columbia were English language learners. In the same year, 229,758 students (8.7%) in Florida
were English language learners. As the fourth most-populous state, Florida’s ELL population is much smaller when
compared to Texas (15.0%), the most populous reporting state†. Of reporting states, Florida has the second highest
number and the eighth highest percentage of ELL students. Table 4 provides additional state-level information.
*NCES, Common Core of Data. http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/bat/.
†
California did not report.
Table 4: Number and Percentage of English Language Learners, by State (2010-11)
STATE OR
JURISDICTION*
TEXAS
FLORIDA
NEW YORK
ILLINOIS
NORTH CAROLINA
COLORADO
WASHINGTON
VIRGINIA
NEVADA
GEORGIA
ARIZONA
OREGON
MICHIGAN
MASSACHUSETTS
NEW JERSEY
NEW MEXICO
INDIANA
MINNESOTA
PENNSYLVANIA
MARYLAND
WISCONSIN
UTAH
OKLAHOMA
KANSAS
OHIO
SOUTH CAROLINA
NUMBER
738,663
229,758
208,125
174,340
103,249
99,804
90,282
88,033
83,352
81,409
76,320
58,946
56,474
54,988
52,771
52,557
49,573
48,428
47,014
45,500
43,638
42,804
41,812
39,323
37,116
36,379
PERCENT
14.97%
8.69%
7.61%
8.34%
6.93%
11.83%
8.65%
7.03%
19.07%
4.85%
7.12%
10.33%
3.56%
5.75%
3.76%
15.54%
4.73%
5.78%
2.62%
5.34%
5.00%
7.31%
6.34%
8.13%
2.12%
5.01%
RANK
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
STATE OR
JURISDICTION*
ARKANSAS
CONNECTICUT
TENNESSEE
MISSOURI
IOWA
NEBRASKA
HAWAII
ALABAMA
KENTUCKY
IDAHO
ALASKA
LOUISIANA
RHODE ISLAND
DELAWARE
MISSISSIPPI
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
MAINE
SOUTH DAKOTA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
MONTANA
NORTH DAKOTA
WYOMING
WEST VIRGINIA
VERMONT
US
NUMBER
31,537
30,428
29,681
21,918
21,733
20,077
19,092
17,559
16,351
15,393
14,963
11,698
7,655
6,858
5,620
5,261
4,792
4,383
3,965
3,300
2,788
2,602
1,788
1,510
2,981,610
PERCENT
RANK
6.54%
5.43%
3.01%
2.39%
4.38%
6.73%
10.63%
2.32%
2.43%
5.58%
11.33%
1.68%
5.32%
5.30%
1.15%
7.38%
2.53%
3.48%
2.04%
2.33%
2.89%
2.92%
0.63%
1.56%
6.03%
Source: NCES, Common Core of Data. http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/bat/.
As a service to Florida school districts, each Data Report presents information on education topics of current interest. Each report is prepared by Education Information and
Accountability Services, 852 Turlington Bldg., 325 W. Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400. For further information call (850) 245-0400 or visit our web address at
http://www.fldoe.org/eias.
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27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50