For students classified as English learners, language support services are designed to help them succeed. But a new study found students who waived those services as high school seniors were more likely to graduate, raising questions about whether the way English learner (EL) services are delivered meets the needs of multilingual students in high school.

The findings, published in AERA Open, come from a study of more than 4,400 high school students in the state of Oregon and are believed to be the first to estimate the effects of waiving English learner services on course-taking and graduation outcomes. The study was co-authored by Janette Avelar, a researcher within the Multilingual Learning Research Center (MLRC) at UW–Madison’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER).

The study reveals key insights into how waiving services shapes educational trajectories, serving as an urgent call to examine whether service models are responsive, especially to long-term ELs and ELs also identified as special education students.

The findings do not show that EL services are harmful, the researchers caution. Because the study relies on administrative data, it cannot fully account for factors such as student motivation, family advocacy, or other characteristics that may influence both the decision to waive services and graduation outcomes.

Oregon is also unique in showing higher rates of waiving in prior research by the same team, which compared Oregon’s rates to those in Texas and Michigan. The team found students with disabilities and long-term ELs were more likely to waive services in all three states, but Oregon’s rate of 1 in 4 seniors opting out was much higher than the other two states’ rates.

 In the new study, Avelar, a WCER principal investigator, said researchers were careful to avoid claiming whether opting out of services is inherently “good” or “bad” for students.

“Instead, we see the act of waiving as providing useful information about how our educational systems are working, rather than about the students themselves,” she said. “When students opt out of services intended to support them, it’s worth asking what that decision might tell us about how those services are structured and whether they’re meeting students’ needs.”

Federal law gives families the right to waive EL services, though districts must continue monitoring students’ progress.

The study analyzed seven years of statewide student data from Oregon, focused on 4,433 students in 249 schools classified as ELs entering 12th grade between 2014–15 and 2018–19. Using a quasi-experimental matching approach, the researchers compared students who waived services with otherwise similar students who remained enrolled in them.

A key finding involved graduation outcomes. Students who waived EL services in 12th grade were 9 to 12 percentage points more likely to earn a regular diploma and 8 to 11 percentage points more likely to graduate overall than comparable students who did not waive services. They were also less likely to leave school without graduating.

The study also examined how waiving services affected course schedules. Students who waived EL services took substantially fewer English Language Development courses and, in many cases, somewhat more elective courses. However, researchers found little evidence that waiving services increased enrollment in core academic subjects such as English language arts, mathematics, science or social studies.

“At the school level, these findings really speak to the importance of intentional course scheduling,” Avelar said. “We expected that students who waived services would enroll in more core academic classes, but instead, we found that they enrolled in more electives, which could include additional graduation requirements.”

The graduation effects were concentrated among students who waived services in 12th grade. When researchers looked at students who waived at any point during high school, they found no significant effects on most graduation outcomes. The authors suggest senior year may be unique because students face heightened pressures to complete graduation requirements and assemble schedules that fit their academic and personal needs.

According to the authors, the results raise important questions about whether EL services provided through standalone courses, particularly for older students, provide the right supports at the right time.

The researchers argue that schools should continue exploring more flexible approaches, including models that integrate language development into academic coursework rather than requiring stand-alone English Language Development classes. They conclude that the goal is not fewer supports for multilingual students but better-aligned supports that respond to students’ diverse needs, interests, and pathways to graduation.

Avelar also said she hoped the research would encourage educators to look at patterns of waiving EL services in their own schools to better understand students’ experiences and identify opportunities to improve programs.

The paper, “The Estimated Effects of Waiving English Learner Services on Course-Taking and Graduation,” was published in September 2026. Avelar conducted the research while pursuing her doctorate in quantitative research methods at the University of Oregon before joining UW–Madison’s MLRC in July 2026.

About the Researcher

Janette Avelar’s research examines how education policies, systems, and institutional practices shape opportunities for multilingual learners. She previously worked with the Center on Reinventing Public Education and the federal grant-funded National Research and Development Center to Improve Education for Secondary English Learners.

About the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER)

WCER at UW–Madison’s top-ranked School of Education is one of the most productive education research centers globally. For over 60 years, it has helped scholars share research, evaluation and development work. Visit the WCER website for more details.