The number of English learners in Hawaiʻi schools has grown by 46% over the last decade, leading the Department of Education to double down on teacher training and family outreach to meet students’ needs.
Hawaiʻi schools currently enroll over 16,200 students who aren’t proficient in English. Chuukese was the most commonly spoken language in Hawaiʻi schools this year, followed by Ilocano and then Marshallese — a significant shift from five years ago when Ilocano topped the list by a wide margin.
Spanish recently surpassed Tagalog as the fourth most common language in schools. This year, roughly 8% of English learners spoke Tagalog, down from 10% in the 2016-17 academic year…