Unpacking the language demands in academic content and English language proficiency standards for English learners

ABSTRACT

In U.S. K-12 public schools, educational policy and practice for English learner (EL) students center around two sets of academic standards: English language proficiency (ELP) standards and content standards such as in English language arts and mathematics. This study examined the types of language demands manifested in those standards in Grade 5. Additionally, we investigated perceptions of both general education and ESL teachers about the language demands in the standards and the challenges in implementing the standards with EL students. Overall, a large overlap was found between academic content standards (particularly, English language arts) and ELP standards in terms of language functions with a heavy emphasis on integrated language skills and interaction skills. The teacher data indicate there is a strong desire for professional learning to better understand the language demands in the standards and to support the systematic collaboration between content-area and ESL teachers. Implications for practice and research in addressing the language demands in academic standards for appropriate EL education are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• College and career ready standards
• English language proficiency (ELP) standards
• English learners
• language demands

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In the current U.S. K-12 education setting, there are two multistate consortia, ELPA21 and WIDA, focusing on ELP standards and assessments for EL students. WIDA was formed in 2002 and created the WIDA English Language Development standards and their aligned ELP assessments. WIDA’s standards and assessments have been adopted by over 40 states at the time of this writing. ELPA21 was established in 2013 and adopted the ELP standards developed by the CCSSO in collaboration with WestEd and the Understanding Language Initiative at Stanford University. In this paper, we refer to the ELP standards adopted by ELPA21 as ELPA21ʹs ELP standards for simplicity.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the William T. Grant Foundation [grant number: 187863. An Investigation of the Language Demands in Standards, Assessments, and Curricular Materials for English Learners]. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Foundation.