No Education Without Representation: Analyzing New Jersey Charter School Websites and Their Effect on English Language Learner Enrollment

Abstract

Despite the commonly held belief that education is a great equalizer, English Language Learner (“ELL”) students’ knowledge of and subsequent access to high-quality schools remains limited. In New Jersey, which has the fourth highest immigrant population in the country, almost every single charter school in the state has lower rates of ELL enrollment when compared to contiguous district public school averages. While the NJ state assessment calculated the discrepancy to be around 1.8 percent, my research concluded the difference between charter school and district averages is closer to 9 percent.

Through qualitative website analysis and substantive review of the literature, I found that charter school marketing strategies and website components had widespread negative effects, particularly on ELL students.

Charter schools extensively engage in racialized marketing and “elite” branding. In doing so, my research indicates that charter schools encourage all students to make school choice decisions based on demographics rather than other objective information. This process leads individuals to seek out schools with racial and socioeconomic demographics similar to their own; these slight preferences over time have been shown to exacerbate segregation. These marketing strategies can be especially harmful for ELL populations. In trying to attract white, middle-class families, charter schools paradoxically dissuade ELL students from applying. This is because “elite” branding raises the readability level of website content and signals that the “ideal” student is different from ELL constituencies; each of these factors may discourage ELL from applying.

In terms of website accessibility, both readability and application requirements pose challenges for low-income, minority, and ELL students. Charter school websites across the board were unclear about application processes. Seeing that there was no uniform process to apply to charter schools, my research argues the application process could benefit by become universalized. Some ELL specific website accessibility issues include a lack of translation services and birth certificate requirements to enroll. Each of these variables were had weak correlations with reducing ELL enrollment.

The most significant takeaway from my research is that even policies that are not illegal may actively dissuade ELL students from enrolling in charter schools. This policy issue has the potential for low effort, high impact results. Currently, there is a lack of oversight and regulation specific to charter school marketing. My thesis indicates that charter schools have the ability to drastically improve by making small changes. As ELL students age into the New Jersey school system, legislators are at the unique inflection point where acting now can prevent contributing to the immense barriers ELL students face in school access.