StatementfromtheWorkingGrouponELLPolicy

Re:EveryStudentSucceedsActof2015
January8,2016
Withthereauthorizationofthe1965ElementaryandSecondaryEducationAct(ESEA)astheEvery
1
StudentSucceedsAct(ESSA)of2015,theWorkingGrouponEnglishLanguageLearner(ELL)Policy
recognizesthecontinuingevolutionofthislandmarkfederallegislationtomorefullyincludeEnglish
Learners.Thisevolutionbeganwiththe1994ImprovingAmericasSchoolsActthatintroducedstate
academicstandardsintofederalrequirementsandaddedprovisionsfortheinclusionofEnglishLearners
instateassessmentsystems.The2001NoChildLeftBehindActaddedimportantrequirementsfor
Englishlanguageproficiencystandards,assessment,andaccountabilitythroughbothTitleIandTitleIII.
BuildingonlessonsfromstateESEAflexibilitywaiversandtheintroductionofcollegeandcareerready
standards,thenewESSAcontinuestoadvancetheinclusionofEnglishLearnersinFederallegislation
affectingstateandlocaleducationagencies.
TheWorkingGroupholdstoanumberofimportantguidingprinciplesthatarereflectedtovarying
[Link]:
[Link]
opportunitiestodevelopthesameconceptualunderstandings,contentareapractices,andsophisticated
usesoflanguagethatcollegeandcareerreadinessrequiresofallstudents.
[Link]
populationsuchthatELLswithdifferingeducationalbackgrounds,contexts,strengths,andneeds
receivenotonlyappropriatehighqualityinstruction,butalsoothersupportsnecessarytoensuretheir
successinschoolandinlife.
[Link]
thecapacityofeducatorsandsystemstoensurelanguagedevelopmentandacademicsuccessforall
ELLs,[Link]
supportscapacities,policies,andbehaviorsthatenableandmeaningfullymeasurethissuccessand
recognizesthedevelopmentalnatureoflanguagelearning.
[Link]
promotedforallstudentsintheU.S.,andaccountabilityprovisionsshouldnotunderminethisgoal.
Multilingualismenhancescognitiveandsocialgrowth,developmentofliteracyinEnglish,
competitivenessinaglobalmarketplace,nationalsecurity,andunderstandingofdiversepeoplesand
cultures.

TheWorkingGrouponELLPolicyconsistsofresearcherswithextensiveexperienceineducatingELLstudentsand
[Link]
combinedknowledgeofseveralleadinguniversitiesandeducationalresearchorganizationsacrosstheUnited
States(see[Link]
consultationwithDianeAugust,DonnaChristian,MichaelFix,DavidFrancis,PatriciaGndara,ClaudeGoldenberg,
MeganHopkins,JenniferODay,KarenThompson,andIlanaUmansky.

ThefollowinghighlightskeyfeaturesofthenewlawforELLeducatorsrelatedtothefirstthree
[Link].

TitleI:

Decisionmakingauthorityforaccountabilityismovedtostatesandlocalities,and
significantlylimitssecretarialauthorityinprovidingguidanceandallowingexceptions.
Statesmusthaverigorouscollegeandcareerreadystandardsinmathematics,
reading/languagearts,[Link]
proficiency(ELP)standardsthatreflectthelanguageskillsandpracticesELLsneedto
engagesuccessfullywiththoseacademicstandards.
Statesmustadministerandreportschoolperformanceonannualstandardsbased
assessmentsofcoreacademicsubjects2aswellasofEnglishlanguageproficiencyfor
[Link],ELPassessmentisnowfullyintegratedinTitleI.
Statesmustdeterminetheirownaccountabilitysystemsbyestablishing"longterm
goals"[Link]
timethisincludesaccountabilityforELsEnglishlanguageproficiencyunderTitleI.
Statesmusthaveamethodforidentifyingschoolsthatareinneedofcomprehensiveor
targetedassistanceandasystemofassistancethatisevidencebasedasdeterminedby
thestate.
Twooptionsareofferedforassessing,reporting,andincludinginaccountability
[Link]
thereading/languageartsassessmentandassessandincorporatetheseELstestresults
[Link],aswasthecaseunderNo
[Link]
reportresultsforthefirsttwoyears,butallowsstatestoexcludetheresultsoftheseELs
fromthestateaccountabilitysysteminthefirstyear,includeameasureofstudent
growthinthesecondyear,andincludeproficiencyontheacademicassessments
[Link].
FormerlyELclassifiedstudentsaretobeincludedintheELsubgroupforreportingand
accountabilitypurposesforaperiodofupto4yearsaftertheyhavebeenreclassified.
ThissuggeststhatELstudentsexitedatGrade5orbeyondmaybeincludedinthebase
forthecalculationofELgraduationrates.
Statesareencouragedtobeinnovativeintheirassessmentandaccountabilitysystems,
includingbeingallowedtouseavarietyofreadinessandengagementindicators
[Section(c)(4)(B)(v)]andencouragedtoseekdemonstrationgrantstouseinnovative
performancebasedassessmentsforstateconsortia.

Inmathematicsandreading/languageartsinGrades38andonceinhighschool,andinscienceonceineachof
gradespans35,69,and1012.

Parentandfamilyengagementisemphasizedandauthorizedataminimumof1%of
Subpart2throughSec.1010withprovisionstoremovebarrierstoparticipationfor
familiesofELs.

TitleII:

TitleIIismoreexplicitinmentioningELsregardingexpectationsofteacherdevelopment
[Link],thestateapplicationisrequiredtoshowhow
teachers,principalsandotherschoolleaderscanidentifyandprovideappropriate
instructionforELs;andlocalactivitiesmustaddressthelearningneedsofELs.

TitleIII:

Statesarerequiredtoadoptstandardizedstatewideproceduresandcriteriaforentry
[Link]
bedoneincloseconsultationwithageographicallyrepresentativesampleofschool
districtsinthestate.
[Link](ED)isallowedtodeterminethenumberofEnglish
learnersinastateusingacombinationofthemostaccurate,uptodatedatafromthe
AmericanCommunitySurveyandstatecountsofstudentsbeingassessedonthestate's
TitleIELPassessment.
SeveralLEAbiennialreportingrequirementsarespecified,includingELsmakingprogress
inEnglishlanguageproficiency;attainingEnglishlanguageproficiency;exitingELstatus
basedontheirattainmentofEnglishlanguageproficiency;meetingacademicstandards
foreachoffouryearsafterexit;andnotattainingEnglishlanguageproficiencywithin
fiveyearsofinitialELclassificationandfirstenrollmentinastate'sLEA.
BiennialreportingalsorequiresdisaggregationoftheperformanceofELsandformer
ELs(foruptofouryearsafterexit)withadisability.
Individualstatesareexplicitlyempoweredtoaddressearlychildhood,whichwilllikely
contributetoconsiderablevariationamongthestatesinprovidingasoundprimary
[Link]
withtheintentionofencouragingcoordinationwithotherearlychildhoodprograms,as
[Link]
aroundensuringconsistencyinELstudentidentification,appropriatelanguagerelated
instruction,anddatasharingacrossdepartments.

TitleVIII(formerlyTitleIX)

Ofrhetoricalsignificance,thelawreplacesLimitedEnglishProficientwithEnglish
Learner.

EnduringIssues
Despitetheadvancesnotedabove,ESSAremainssilentinaddressingthevalueofbilingualismand
[Link]
commitmentofstatesinrecentyearstofosterboththroughinitiativessuchasthesealofbiliteracy.3
TheWorkingGrouponELLPolicywillcontinuetocallattentiontothestrongandgrowingevidencebase
[Link]
incompatiblewithpromotinghighlevelsofEnglishproficiencyforEnglishlearners,whichisclearly
necessaryforsuccessinschoolandbeyond.
Thelawalsomissesanopportunitytosetexpectationsforstatestoestablishsystemsofschooland
[Link]
guidelinescenteredonfocused,concerted,[Link]
example,schoollevelvariablesassociatedwithimprovedachievementforELsincludelearninggoalsfor
allstudentsincludingELsthatareunderstoodandsupportedbyallstaff;assessmentpracticesthat
providerealtimeandactionableinformationonstudentscurrentstatusandnextstepsrelativetothese
goals;instructionalresourcesalignedwithlearninggoals;contextualized,ongoingsupportand
professionaldevelopmentforteacherstointerpretassessmentevidenceandpedagogicallyassist
studentsinattaininglearninggoals;andeffectiveschoolleadershipthatfostersaccountabilitywhile
supportingandencouragingteachersandstudentsworkingtowardlearninggoals.

RuleMaking
Therulemakingprocesstoimplementthenewlawneedstooccurbeforethelawtakeseffect
[Link]
process,[Link]
issueindepthanalysesincludingdatamodelsofalternativeinterpretationsofkeyreporting
andaccountabilityprovisionsduringtherulemakingperiod.

See[Link]