Definition: Number of public school students who, on census day, speak a language other than English at home and lack English language speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills necessary to succeed in regular instructional programs, by ten most common primary languages (e.g., on census day in the 2021 school year, 870,719 California students were identified as English Learners with Spanish as their primary language).
Data Source: California Dept. of Education, English Learners by Grade and Language (Sept. 2021).
Footnote: Years presented are the final year of a school year (e.g., 2020-21 is shown as 2021). Census day is the first Wednesday in October. Data are provided for the ten most common primary languages statewide in the most recent year. N/A means that data are not available. In 2011, many school districts did not report English Learner data with primary language information; see English Learners in Public Schools for related data for 2011.
