Report: Boston Doing Poor Job With English Language Learners, Review Finds

A federal review has found that Boston's public schools fail to adequately teach thousands of students with limited English skills nearly five years after promising the U.S. government it would overhaul programs to comply with civil rights laws.

The review obtained by The Boston Globe says the situation is worst in middle and high schools, where 49 percent of students known as English-language learners are receiving insufficient levels of specialized instruction or none at all. Twenty-four percent of elementary school students with language barriers are in a similar predicament. About 30 percent of the system's students are classified as English-language learners.

The review was conducted by the U.S. departments of Education and Justice.

Interim Superintendent John McDonough says the school system has been working aggressively to overhaul its programs.