American students who struggle with English outnumber kids born abroad

This gulf between the number of students born abroad and those considered English language learners is particularly wide in several states. California, where roughly 93 percent of the child population was considered native born in 2012, had nearly a quarter of its students enrolled in programs for English language learners that same year.

Eleven percent of Oregon’s students are English language learners while just 4 percent of children in that state were born abroad.

Texas and Nevada have ELL student populations of 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively. The non-native child population in each state is around 6 percent.