under The Best Resources for Learning about the Next Generation of State Testing.50
No matter what exemptions may or may not be granted, the reality is that the vast majority of English Language Learners in this country have already taken or soon will be taking these new assessments. An important requirement of the grants to create these assessments was to include testing accommodation policies for ELLs and students with disabilities. The new assessments from both PARCC and SBAC, which were operational for the 2014–2015 school year, were mostly administered by computer and did contain technology-based accommodations, such as pop-up glossaries, audio captions, and text-to-speech and speech-to-text options. Other, nonembedded accommodations include the use of bilingual, word-to-word dictionaries, test directions being read aloud or in a student's native language, smaller testing environments, and extended time.51, 52
As teachers, we know in real life that even with testing accommodations these assessments can be a source of frustration and anxiety for our ELL students. It is important for both teachers and students to remember the “end game” – that acquiring language and content in meaningful ways is the goal, not learning how to score higher on a state test.
English Language Proficiency Standards
Common Core standards lay out the academic concepts and content that students need to know in different academic subjects. Teachers and students use language to teach and learn these subjects. In order for teachers to effectively provide scaffolds for ELLs so they can learn the academic content specified in Common Core, they must know how language develops across proficiency levels and be aware of the specific language practices students need in order to access this content. English Language Proficiency standards are one resource teachers can use to gain that knowledge.
Several major efforts have been undertaken across the United States in the past few years to develop these types of English Language Proficiency standards that align to Common Core. In terms of helping English Learners to meet the Common Core, very little guidance was provided in the original publication of the standards. Basically, it was left up to each state to determine how to best align their English Language Proficiency Standards with the Common Core.53 What follows is a good faith and nonexhaustive summary of some of these major efforts with links to more information about each one.
CCSSO
To address the lack of guidance on how to support English Language Learners meeting the Common Core standards, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) published the English Language Proficiency Development Framework, to support states with the process of aligning their ELP standards to CCSS and the Next Generation of Science Standards that were published in April 2013.54 This framework was developed by leading ELL researchers and educators and was published in September 2012.55 Many states, along with educational organizations, have looked to this document to inform their creation or revision of English Language Proficiency standards that align to Common Core.
WIDA
WIDA formerly stood for World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment, but no longer uses this as an acronym. It still uses the name WIDA, and is a nonprofit cooperative group whose purpose is to develop equitable standards and assessments for English Language Learners. In 2012, WIDA published a revised version of their ELD standards titled The WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards. This new edition of amplified ELD standards are aligned to Common Core and represent “the social, instructional, and academic language that students need to engage with peers, educators, and the curriculum in schools.”56 Currently, 36 states belong to WIDA (see https://www.wida.us/membership/states/ for a list) and have adopted the WIDA standards. Educators in other states and around the world find the WIDA standards – along with WIDA's Can-Do Descriptors (specific descriptions of the language students should be able to understand and produce at various levels of proficiency) – to be helpful resources (https://www.wida.us/standards/CAN_DOs/).
ELPA21
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the Understanding Language Initiative at Stanford University, and the 10 states who are part of the ELPA21 consortium (see http://www.elpa21.org/standards-initiatives/ells-elpa21 for a list) worked with WestEd, an education research and consulting organization, to develop a set of English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards in April 2014.
These ELP Standards focus on what students do with language to accomplish content specific tasks (language functions) and on the vocabulary, grammar, and discourse specific to a particular content area or discipline (language forms) as they work to meet college and career ready standards.57
California ELA/ELD Framework
In 2012, California adopted ELD standards that align with Common Core.58 These standards recognize that ELLs have a linguistic challenge, not a cognitive challenge. The ELD standards are designed to help teachers, students, and their families evaluate ELLs' language growth as they simultaneously develop the skills set forth in Common Core.
In 2014, California released the ELA/ELD Framework,59 which provides guidance for both ELD and content-area teachers on how to integrate the ELD and Common Core standards and how to maximize the opportunities for ELLs to develop language within content practices. It is considered by many to be an innovative document that lays out a considerable amount of current research and instructional theory along with vignettes providing “glimpses of instruction” in ELA and ELD.60
New York State Bilingual Common Core Initiative
In 2012, New York, under its Bilingual Common Core Initiative,61 began developing new English as a Second Language and Native Language Arts Standards aligned to the Common Core. While the development process continues, they have released “language progressions” for their Common Core learning standards at each grade level. The “New Language Arts Progressions” are for students learning a new language (e.g., students in English as a Second Language or Language Other than English classes) and the “Home Language Arts Progressions” are for students developing a home language (e.g., students in Native Language Arts or language classes for speakers of that language).62
There's some debate about how useful all of these new English Language Proficiency standards are to teachers working day-to-day in their classrooms. However, teachers will need to familiarize themselves with the ELP standards that their students will be assessed by. These standards also offer a “shared language” that ELD and content teachers can use to collaborate on effectively meeting the needs of ELLs in all classes.
English Language Proficiency Assessments
English Language Proficiency assessments are being developed based on these new ELP standards. These tests are separate from the Common Core assessments given in each state. They will replace older versions of both diagnostic and summative assessments currently being used by states for placement, monitoring, and reclassification of ELLs. The U.S. Department of Education provided grants to two state-led
Ferlazzo, L. (2011, June 10). The best resources for learning about the “next generation” of state testing.
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. (2015, June 1).
Council of Chief State School Officers. (2012).
Next Generation Science Standards. (n.d.).
Council of Chief State School Officers. (2012).
WIDA. (2012).
California Department of Education. (n.d.).
California Department of Education. (n.d.).
California Department of Education. (n.d.).
