English learners (ELs) require access to appropriate instructional services that match their strengths and needs to have an equal opportunity to achieve the same academic standards as other students. If ELs are not properly identified and classified, they may be excluded from services that would better help them meet high academic standards, and they may not receive optimal supports to advance both linguistically and academically. Thus, it is critical to accurately and properly identify newly enrolled students who are in need of supplemental instruction and support. The purpose of this report is to identify issues in current initial English‐language proficiency assessment practices used to determine initial EL classification and offer recommendations to strengthen the policies, process, and tools used in the identification and classification of ELs.
Currently, states are moving forward with developing or adopting new English language proficiency (ELP) assessments aligned with the new academic standards in order to meet accountability requirements. In this transition, it is essential to identify areas of improvement for current ELP assessment practices and discuss ways to implement effective ELP assessments in order to better serve the needs of English language learner (ELL) students. This article offers a conceptual framework and guiding principles to consider in designing and developing next‐generation ELP assessment systems for K–12 ELL students. In particular, the article calls for a need to create an ELP assessment system where the standards, a set of coherent assessments, and instruction are all systematically linked to maximize assessment results and thus aid in ELL students' academic success. The importance of defining an overarching construct to govern various assessments and the use of evidence‐centered‐design principles for the development of an assessment system are also discussed.
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