U.S. Department of Education National Evaluation of Title III Implementation— A Survey of States’ English Language Proficiency Standards National Evaluation of Title III Implementation— A Survey of States’ English Language Proficiency Standards Submitted to U.S. Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development Policy and Program Studies Service Prepared by Ellen Forte, edCount, LLC Laura Kuti, edCount, LLC Jennifer O’Day, American Institutes for Research American Institutes for Research Washington, DC 2012 This report was prepared for the U.S. Department of Education under Contract Number ED-04-CO- 0025/0017. Elizabeth Eisner served as the contracting officer’s representative. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education is intended or should be inferred. U.S. Department of Education Arne Duncan Secretary Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development Carmel Martin Assistant Secretary Policy and Program Studies Service Tom Weko Director August 2012 This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. Although permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the citation should be U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service, National Evaluation of Title III Implementation—A Survey of States’ English Language Proficiency Standards, Washington, D.C., 2012. This report is also available on the Department’s website at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/index.html. On request, this publication is available in alternative formats, such as Braille, large print or computer diskette. For more information, please contact the Department’s Alternate Format Center at 202-260-0852 or 202-260-0818. Content Contact Liz Eisner 202-260-1109 [email protected] Contents List of Exhibits ............................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................... v Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... vii I. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 A New Federal Approach to Serving English Learners ....................................................................................... 1 Evolution of States’ English Language Proficiency Standards ............................................................................ 2 Scope of the Survey .................................................................................................................................................... 4 II. Survey Findings .......................................................................................................................... 5 The Survey Process .................................................................................................................................................... 5 Findings ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7 How Are States’ ELP Standards Structured? ........................................................................................................ 7 How Are States’ ELP Standards Designed To Support the Achievement of Academic Standards? ......... 15 How Do States’ ELP Standards Reflect the Principles of Academic English Language Acquisition? ...... 19 How Do States’ ELP Standards Support Access and Use? .............................................................................. 26 III. Summary and Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 29 Summary ....................................................................................................................................................................29 Grade-Range and Language Domain Structures .................................................................................................29 Explicit References to Academic Content Areas and the Achievement of Academic Expectations ..........29 The Components of Academic English Language ..............................................................................................32 Supports for Curriculum and Assessment Development ..................................................................................32 Conclusions ...............................................................................................................................................................32 References ...................................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix A: Description of Data Collection and the Survey Protocol ......................................... 39 Collection of ELP Standards and Documentation .............................................................................................39 Development and Application of the Protocol ...................................................................................................39 Appendix B: Sources for States’ ELP Standards Documents ....................................................... 43 Appendix C: Survey Protocol ......................................................................................................... 47 Contents iii Exhibits I. Introduction Exhibit 1. States by Publication Year of Their Current ELP Standards and ELP Assessment Consortium Membership ...................................................................................................... 3 II. Survey Findings Exhibit 2. Rating Scale .............................................................................................................................. 6 Exhibit 3. Length of Standards ............................................................................................................... 6 Exhibit 4. Organization of Standards Across Grades ......................................................................... 8 Exhibit 5. Organization of Domains Within Standards .................................................................... 10 Exhibit 6. Standards for a Single Domain (Ohio) .............................................................................. 11 Exhibit 7. Standards Combined Across All Four Domains of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening (New York) ................................................................................................... 12 Exhibit 8. Common Standard and Common Descriptors (New York) .......................................... 13 Exhibit 9. Explicit References to Academic Content Areas ............................................................. 16 Exhibit 10. Explicit References to Academic Standards in Mathematics (Arkansas) ..................... 17 Exhibit 11. Explicit References to Academic Content in Social Studies (WIDA) .......................... 18 Exhibit 12. Prevalence of and Attention to Language Skills and Functions, by Component ....... 21 Exhibit 13. Principle of Culture Embedded in Language Learning (Ohio) ..................................... 25 Exhibit 14. Supports for Access and Use in States’ ELP Standards Documents ............................ 27 Exhibit 15. Instructional Suggestions Embedded in ELP Standards (Missouri) ............................. 28 III. Summary and Conclusions Exhibit 16a. Summary of Results, Part 1 ................................................................................................. 30 Exhibit 16b. Summary of Results, Part 2 ................................................................................................. 31 Appendix B: Sources for States’ ELP Standards Documents Exhibit B–1. List of State ELP Standards Websites ............................................................................... 43 Exhibits iv Acknowledgments We wish to thank several individuals who contributed to the completion of this study. First, we are grateful for the guidance and support of the U.S. Department of Education. In particular, we thank Elizabeth Eisner and Daphne Kaplan of the Policy and Program Studies Service. We are grateful to the staff of the American Institutes for Research for their assistance in producing this report. In particular, we thank James Taylor for his leadership of the evaluation, Bea Birman for her feedback, Diane Staehr Fenner and Frances Butler for their participation in the standards survey process, and Monica Billig and Allison Kerbel for their analytical contributions. We also recognize the assistance of Kenji Hakuta, of Stanford University, for his advice. We also thank H. Gary Cook, of the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research, and Robert Linquanti, of WestEd, for their review as part of the study’s technical working group. While we appreciate the assistance and support of all the above individuals, any errors in judgment or fact are of course the responsibility of the authors. Acknowledgments v Executive Summary The 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), represented a turning