You asked if the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 allows for native language testing of students with limited English proficiency (LEP). You also wanted to know how some other states are dealing with the issue of providing accurate assessments of LEP students.

SUMMARY

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 allows students with limited English proficiency to take academic assessments in their native language for up to three years, with a possible extension on an individual basis if certain conditions are met. However, many school districts give English language academic assessments with accommodations, such as additional time and the use of bilingual dictionaries or glossaries.

The U. S. Department of Education has acknowledged the difficulties associated with assessing LEP students, including many districts’ inability to translate assessments into all of the languages represented in the school population. In order to better assess these students, the U. S. Department of Education recently announced that, effective immediately, LEP students are not required to participate in the reading or language arts assessment during their first year of enrollment in U. S. schools. This policy will remain in effect until the department issues final regulations.

TESTING REQUIREMENTS UNDER NCLB

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires annual assessments in reading or language arts, math, and science (beginning in 2007) in order for states to receive Title I grant funds (P. L. 107-110). Each state, school district, and school is expected to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) towards state developed standards. States are required to assess students, including LEP students, enrolled in a school or school district for a full academic year, as defined by each respective state. Additionally, NCLB imposes a 95% assessment participation rate for AYP determinations and outlines certain consequences if AYP is not met.

Native Language Assessments

The NCLB requires that states, to the extent practicable, use tests in the language and form most likely to yield accurate data. Additionally, the act requires each state to identify the foreign languages present in its population and indicate those for which annual student tests are needed but not available. The state must make every effort to develop such tests and may request assistance from the Secretary of Education. According to the U. S. Department of Education, states have wide flexibility in determining how to assess their LEP students, including accommodations or alternative assessments.

However, states must use English language math and reading assessments for any student who has attended school in the United States (outside of Puerto Rico) for at least three consecutive years. School districts may decide, on a case by case basis, to administer assessments in another language or form for up to two additional years if such testing would yield more accurate results.

Additional Testing of LEP Students

States are also required to annually assess the English proficiency of all their LEP students. Assessments must measure English oral language, reading, and writing skills.

HOW STATES ASSESS THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF LEP STUDENTS

The Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of about 60 of the nation's largest urban public school systems that works to promote urban education, has released reports and survey data on the methods schools use to assess LEP students. According to its 2003 report, “Assessing English Language Learners in Great City Schools,” many schools offer assessments only in English.

The organization contacted bilingual education directors in member school systems such as Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York City to determine the languages used to assess academic achievement. Of the 30 respondents, 20 directors said that their districts offer tests of academic achievement only in English. Nine districts offered an academic achievement test in Spanish. These Spanish-language achievement tests were either direct translations of an English version of the test, or were assessments that paralleled the English version. New York translates its Regents exam into Spanish, Haitian Creole, Russian, Chinese, and Korean for all subject matters except English and language arts.

The report points out that native language assessments that parallel their English counterparts in content may not be appropriate for the majority of LEP students who do not receive instruction in their native language. According to some experts, such assessments are better suited for those who receive all or a majority of their instruction in their native language, or those who receive English-only instruction, but who have been recently educated in their home country.

Survey date compiled by the organization indicates that many districts administer the same tests to LEP students that they administer to all students, but provide some accommodations for students learning English. Among the most common accommodations are additional time to complete the exams and permission to use bilingual dictionaries or glossaries.

NEW POLICY GUIDELINES

Assessments for First-Year LEP Students

The U. S. Department of Education notes that states, with the support of funds provided through NCLB, are developing better assessments and accommodations for LEP students. However, it acknowledges that LEP students may have a difficult time participating in assessments due to language barriers and schooling experiences in their native country. The

department also acknowledges the difficultly some districts have translating assessments into all of the languages (sometimes over 100) represented in their population.

On February 19, 2004, the department announced new policy guidelines in response to these concerns. Effective immediately, LEP students must take an English proficiency assessment during their first year of enrollment in U. S. schools, but are not required to participate in the reading or language arts assessment. The assessment results of first-year LEP students who do take the reading or language arts assessment are not required to be included in AYP determinations, even if the student has been enrolled in the school or district for a full academic year as defined by the state. (According to the department, some states define full academic year as the period between a predetermined head count date in the fall and the test administration. )

If these students take either assessment, they can be counted as participants toward meeting the 95% participation requirement for AYP determinations in reading. It should be noted, however, that even if LEP students do not take the reading assessment during the first year, it is still considered the first of the three years in which a student may take the reading or language arts assessment in their native language.

The math assessment is still required, with accommodations as necessary, but States are not required to include LEP students’ assessment results in AYP determinations during their first year, and the students are still counted towards the 95% assessment participation rate.

LEP Subgroup and Calculating AYP

The department also responded to concerns that it is difficult to demonstrate adequate yearly progress in the LEP subgroup because students exit the subgroup once they have attained English proficiency. Effective immediately, states may include students in the subgroup who have attained English proficiency for up to two years in order to demonstrate adequate yearly improvement.

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