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 consortia to develop these “next generation of ELPD assessments.”
One assessment system, ASSETS – Assessment Services Supporting ELs through Technology Systems (http://www.assets.wceruw.org) – is being developed in collaboration with WIDA and several organizations, including WestEd, the Center for Applied Linguistics, and the University of California, Los Angeles, along with 30 states. This assessment system builds on WIDA's task assessments and will include diagnostic, summative and formative assessment tools. It should be fully operational in 2015–2016.63
Another grant was awarded to ELPA21 – English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (http://www.elpa21.org), a consortium of states led by Oregon and in collaboration with CCSSO and Stanford University. As a first step in the assessment development process, ELPA21 developed new ELP standards that we described in the previous section. Subsequently they have designed assessments aligned to these standards. Their diagnostic/screener and summative assessments are intended to be fully operational in the 2015–2016 school year.64
In addition to being “valid, fair, and reliable,” these new assessments must meet the following additional criteria:
• Be based on a common definition of English language learner adopted by all consortium states
• Include diagnostic (e.g., screener, placement) and summative assessments
• Assess English language proficiency across the four language domains (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) for each grade level from kindergarten through Grade 12
• Produce results that indicate whether individual students have attained a level and complexity of English language proficiency that is necessary to participate fully in academic instruction in English
• Be accessible to all ELLs with the exception of those who are eligible for alternate assessments based on alternate academic standards
• Use technology to the maximum extent appropriate to develop, administer, and score assessments65
Other states, including California,66 New York,67 and Texas,68 are not participating in either consortium and are developing their own ELP assessments.
Clearly these ELP assessments, as well as the Common Core assessments, will be challenging