English Language Learners, Accommodations for in Testing

English Language Learners

English language learners (ELLs) are students who need instructional support because their command of English is not sufficient for them to access all the academic content of their classes. Using the term limited English proficient (LEP), the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 defines such students as being between the ages of 3 and 21 and enrolled or preparing to enroll in an elementary or secondary school; having been born somewhere other than the United States; being a Native American, Alaskan Native, or resident of an outlying area; having a native language other than English; and/or being from an environment where a language other than English is dominant. An ELL (or LEP) student has difficulties speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language such that (a) they are unable to meet the state's proficiency level in classrooms in which the language of instruction is English, and/or (b) they are unable to participate fully in society.

Not only do ELLs currently comprise a large segment of the U.S. population, they also constitute the fastest growing group of students. According to the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA), in 2004–2005, approximately 5.1 million ELLs were enrolled in PreK through Grade 12, a number that represented about 10.5% of total U.S. public school student enrollment, with Spanish speakers accounting for 79% of the national ELL population. In the decade between 1994–1995 and 2004–2005, the enrollment of ELL students in U.S. elementary and secondary schools increased by 60.8%, while the overall enrollment of all elementary and secondary students in the United States increased by only 2.6% during the same period. It is further projected by the NCELA that one in four students nationally will be an ELL by year 2025. However, the distribution of ELL students is uneven across geographic regions, with 61% of the nation's ELL population concentrated in only six states—Arizona, California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois.

Test Accommodation Strategies

Historically, ELLs have been excluded from large-scale assessments. Since the enactment of the NCLB in 2002, states have been required to both include ELLs in their assessment systems and ensure that they make adequate progress each year. The low English language proficiency that defines ELLs compromises their test performance. For example, in a math test an ELL student may fail to solve a math problem because of insufficient understanding of English rather than on account of insufficient math ability. Consequently, it would be invalid to make judgments about the ELL student's math ability based on scores collected from such a test written in English.

The use of accommodations in large-scale assessments has been widely proposed as a way to compensate for the disadvantage that ELLs face in the test-taking context. The determination of which ELL students are eligible for accommodations, however, varies across states and/or school districts. Four factors are usually

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