Assessment Accommodations for English Language Learners (ELLs)

The terms "limited English proficient" and "English language learner" (ELL) describe students whose difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding English may affect their ability to participate fully in society and to succeed in school and on state assessments. These students may include immigrants and migrants as well as U.S. born citizens whose language proficiency is affected by an environment in which a language other than English is spoken at home. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 [NCLB]) requires states, districts and schools to report on the ELL subgroup for AYP purposes. The most common way states include ELLs in large-scale testing is through regular state tests with accommodations. Effective accommodations for ELLs address the unique linguistic and socio-cultural needs of the student without interfering with the validity or reliability of the test's results.

Glossary of Terms and Acronyms related to ELL Assessment Accommodations

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Accommodation Resources


Best Practices in State Assessment Policies for Accommodating English Language Learners: A Delphi Study The George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education (GW-CEEE) published this Best Practices Study involving the application of a Delphi technique to obtain consensus from an expert panel about which accommodations identified in the GW-CEEE Descriptive Study were ELL-responsive. Members of the panel, relied on their professional judgment to vet a list of ELL-responsive accommodations and then mapped these accommodations to English language proficiency (ELP) levels and to selected student background variables. Pages: 37
Challenges in Evaluating Special Education Teachers and English Language Learner Specialists The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center) has released a policy brief describing the results of their survey of more than 1,100 state and local directors of special education and interviews with numerous specialists throughout the nation. The purpose of the survey was to identify the specific challenges in evaluating special education teachers and English language learner specialists, to determine the current status of state and district policy and practice, and to identify promising evaluation practices and instruments. In addition to providing the results of the survey, the brief includes policy and practice recommendations for regions, states, and districts to help in their efforts to create valid, reliable, and comprehensive evaluation systems for all teachers as they work to improve the achievement of all students.

Best Practices in State Assessment Policies for Accommodating English Language Learners: A Delphi Study

The George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education (GW-CEEE) published this Best Practices Study involving the application of a Delphi technique to obtain consensus from an expert panel about which accommodations identified in the GW-CEEE Descriptive Study were ELL-responsive. Members of the panel, relied on their professional judgment to vet a list of ELL-responsive accommodations and then mapped these accommodations to English language proficiency (ELP) levels and to selected student background variables.
Pages: 37

Challenges in Evaluating Special Education Teachers and English Language Learner Specialists

The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center) has released a policy brief describing the results of their survey of more than 1,100 state and local directors of special education and interviews with numerous specialists throughout the nation. The purpose of the survey was to identify the specific challenges in evaluating special education teachers and English language learner specialists, to determine the current status of state and district policy and practice, and to identify promising evaluation practices and instruments. In addition to providing the results of the survey, the brief includes policy and practice recommendations for regions, states, and districts to help in their efforts to create valid, reliable, and comprehensive evaluation systems for all teachers as they work to improve the achievement of all students.

Ensuring Accomodations Used in Content Assessments Are Responsive to English Language Learners
This column offers an overview of the requirements for including and accommodating English-language learners (ELLs) in content assessments and an explanation of how accommodations for ELLs work. It concludes with recommendations drawn from research and practice to ensure accommodations are assigned and implemented in ways that are likely to appropriately support ELLs during testing.
Abstract from Willner, L., Rivera, C., & Acosta, B.D. (2009, May). Ensuring Accommodations Used in Content Assessments Are Responsive to English-Language Learners. The Reading Teacher, 62(8), 696–698.

NWCC is part of a nationwide network of 15 regional technical assistance centers established by the U.S. Department of Education. The Comprehensive Centers were created to deliver high-quality technical assistance, information, and resources to state education agencies (SEAs). Chartered in the Pacific Northwest in 1966 as Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Education Northwest now conducts more than 200 projects annually, working with schools, districts, and communities on evidence-based solutions to the challenges they face.

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Assessment Accommodations for English Language Learners (ELLs)

Accommodation Resources