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
degreesinthenewlaw.Theseprinciplesinclude:
Fosteringacademicachievementandlanguagedevelopment.ELLsmustbeprovidedwithequal
opportunitiestodevelopthesameconceptualunderstandings,contentareapractices,andsophisticated
usesoflanguagethatcollegeandcareerreadinessrequiresofallstudents.
Providingadditionalsupports.Federalandstatepolicymustrespondtothediversityofthis
populationsuchthatELLswithdifferingeducationalbackgrounds,contexts,strengths,andneeds
receivenotonlyappropriatehighqualityinstruction,butalsoothersupportsnecessarytoensuretheir
successinschoolandinlife.
Establishingmeaningfulaccountability.Federalandstatepolicyplaysanimportantroleindeveloping
thecapacityofeducatorsandsystemstoensurelanguagedevelopmentandacademicsuccessforall
ELLs,andinfosteringthewilltodoso.Accountabilityinthiscontextbecomesmeaningfulwhenit
supportscapacities,policies,andbehaviorsthatenableandmeaningfullymeasurethissuccessand
recognizesthedevelopmentalnatureoflanguagelearning.
Valuingbilingualismandbiliteracy.Proficiencyintwoormorelanguagesshouldbeencouragedand
promotedforallstudentsintheU.S.,andaccountabilityprovisionsshouldnotunderminethisgoal.
Multilingualismenhancescognitiveandsocialgrowth,developmentofliteracyinEnglish,
competitivenessinaglobalmarketplace,nationalsecurity,andunderstandingofdiversepeoplesand
cultures.

TheWorkingGrouponELLPolicyconsistsofresearcherswithextensiveexperienceineducatingELLstudentsand
asubstantialunderstandingoftheresearchonstrategiesforeffectivelyeducatingthispopulation.Webringthe
combinedknowledgeofseveralleadinguniversitiesandeducationalresearchorganizationsacrosstheUnited
States(seehttp://ellpolicy.org/about/).ThisdocumentwaspreparedbyKenjiHakutaandRobertLinquanti,in
consultationwithDianeAugust,DonnaChristian,MichaelFix,DavidFrancis,PatriciaGndara,ClaudeGoldenberg,
MeganHopkins,JenniferODay,KarenThompson,andIlanaUmansky.

ThefollowinghighlightskeyfeaturesofthenewlawforELLeducatorsrelatedtothefirstthree
principles.Thelawissilentonthefourth.

TitleI:

Decisionmakingauthorityforaccountabilityismovedtostatesandlocalities,and
significantlylimitssecretarialauthorityinprovidingguidanceandallowingexceptions.
Statesmusthaverigorouscollegeandcareerreadystandardsinmathematics,
reading/languagearts,andscience.TheymustalsohavecorrespondingEnglishlanguage
proficiency(ELP)standardsthatreflectthelanguageskillsandpracticesELLsneedto
engagesuccessfullywiththoseacademicstandards.
Statesmustadministerandreportschoolperformanceonannualstandardsbased
assessmentsofcoreacademicsubjects2aswellasofEnglishlanguageproficiencyfor
ELs.Thatis,ELPassessmentisnowfullyintegratedinTitleI.
Statesmustdeterminetheirownaccountabilitysystemsbyestablishing"longterm
goals"forstudentachievementthatincludemeasuringinterimprogress.Forthefirst
timethisincludesaccountabilityforELsEnglishlanguageproficiencyunderTitleI.
Statesmusthaveamethodforidentifyingschoolsthatareinneedofcomprehensiveor
targetedassistanceandasystemofassistancethatisevidencebasedasdeterminedby
thestate.
Twooptionsareofferedforassessing,reporting,andincludinginaccountability
recentlyarrivedELs.StatesmayexcluderecentlyarrivedELsfromoneadministrationof
thereading/languageartsassessmentandassessandincorporatetheseELstestresults
aftertheyhavebeenenrolledinaU.S.schoolforoneyear,aswasthecaseunderNo
ChildLeftBehind.ThesecondoptionrequiresstatestotestrecentlyarrivedELsand
reportresultsforthefirsttwoyears,butallowsstatestoexcludetheresultsoftheseELs
fromthestateaccountabilitysysteminthefirstyear,includeameasureofstudent
growthinthesecondyear,andincludeproficiencyontheacademicassessments
beginninginthestudentsthirdyearinaU.S.school.
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
plansandprograms.Forexample,thestateapplicationisrequiredtoshowhow
teachers,principalsandotherschoolleaderscanidentifyandprovideappropriate
instructionforELs;andlocalactivitiesmustaddressthelearningneedsofELs.

TitleIII:

Statesarerequiredtoadoptstandardizedstatewideproceduresandcriteriaforentry
intoandexitfromELstatusthatareconsistentacrossdistrictswithinthestate.Thisisto
bedoneincloseconsultationwithageographicallyrepresentativesampleofschool
districtsinthestate.
TheU.S.DepartmentofEducation(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
educationforchildren.ThelawmovestheseprogramstoHealthandHumanServices
withtheintentionofencouragingcoordinationwithotherearlychildhoodprograms,as
wellasthepoliticalintentiontolimitauthorityofED.Thismaygeneratechallenges
aroundensuringconsistencyinELstudentidentification,appropriatelanguagerelated
instruction,anddatasharingacrossdepartments.

TitleVIII(formerlyTitleIX)

Ofrhetoricalsignificance,thelawreplacesLimitedEnglishProficientwithEnglish
Learner.

EnduringIssues
Despitetheadvancesnotedabove,ESSAremainssilentinaddressingthevalueofbilingualismand
biliteracynotonlyforELsbutalsoforlanguagemajoritystudents.Thisisunfortunategiventhesurging
commitmentofstatesinrecentyearstofosterboththroughinitiativessuchasthesealofbiliteracy.3
TheWorkingGrouponELLPolicywillcontinuetocallattentiontothestrongandgrowingevidencebase
forpromotingbilingualismandbiliteracyforallstudentsintheUnitedStates.Thisgoalisinnoway
incompatiblewithpromotinghighlevelsofEnglishproficiencyforEnglishlearners,whichisclearly
necessaryforsuccessinschoolandbeyond.
Thelawalsomissesanopportunitytosetexpectationsforstatestoestablishsystemsofschooland
districtsupportthatpromoteimprovedachievementofELs.Currentresearchevidencepointstoseveral
guidelinescenteredonfocused,concerted,andgoaldrivenschoolanddistrictwideefforts.For
example,schoollevelvariablesassociatedwithimprovedachievementforELsincludelearninggoalsfor
allstudentsincludingELsthatareunderstoodandsupportedbyallstaff;assessmentpracticesthat
providerealtimeandactionableinformationonstudentscurrentstatusandnextstepsrelativetothese
goals;instructionalresourcesalignedwithlearninggoals;contextualized,ongoingsupportand
professionaldevelopmentforteacherstointerpretassessmentevidenceandpedagogicallyassist
studentsinattaininglearninggoals;andeffectiveschoolleadershipthatfostersaccountabilitywhile
supportingandencouragingteachersandstudentsworkingtowardlearninggoals.

RuleMaking
Therulemakingprocesstoimplementthenewlawneedstooccurbeforethelawtakeseffect
beginninginthe20172018schoolyear.Manydetailswillbeworkedoutduringtheregulatory
process,inwhichresearchevidencecanplayasignificantrole.TheWorkingGroupplansto
issueindepthanalysesincludingdatamodelsofalternativeinterpretationsofkeyreporting
andaccountabilityprovisionsduringtherulemakingperiod.

Seehttp://sealofbiliteracy.org/.