Laws & Guidance ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION
Guidance on Standards, Assessments, and Accountability
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Example: Inclusion of Limited English Proficient Students (LEP) in Statewide Assessments

A southwestern State has a large number of Spanish-speaking and Native American students who are identified at the district level as LEP. The identification process for services includes a home language survey, an interview with parents/guardians, a review of records from other schools, and a standardized English language proficiency test.

The process for determining whether or not an LEP student should be included in the statewide assessment starts with identification of how long the student has been in the district. LEP students who have been in the district’s schools for less than one year are automatically exempted from testing. Criteria are used to determine whether LEP students are tested with the State’s standardized achievement test based on (1) current teacher recommendations related to how the student is performing in unsupported English instruction, and (2) the current level of English language proficiency in oral language, reading, and writing as determined by the standardized English language proficiency test.

Students who are not proficient enough in the English language are tested with accommodations. For Spanish-speaking students who are literate in Spanish, an equivalent Spanish form of the standardized test is administered. For LEP students who speak languages other than Spanish, instructions are administered in their primary language, word lists are used and additional time is allowed for completion of the test. Any other accommodations that might be made (e.g., use of a translator, use of district-developed translations of the test) are noted and the district’s test data are disaggregated by type of accommodation. The State, in turn,reports the test data for LEP students who have been tested with accommodations by district and by type of accommodation used.

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Last Modified: 10/10/2003