California s implementation

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1 JULY 2012 How Next-Geeratio Stadards ad Assessmets Ca Foster Success for Califoria s Eglish Learers Robert Liquati, WestEd Keji Hakuta, Staford Uiversity Policy Brief 12-1 Robert Liquati is Project Director ad Seior Researcher at WestEd, specializig i assessmet, evaluatio ad accoutability policies, practices, ad systems for Eglish Learers. He coducts research ad provides techical assistace at federal, state, ad local levels i these areas. Keji Hakuta is the Lee L. Jacks Professor of Educatio at Staford Uiversity. He has published widely i the area of the educatio of Eglish laguage learers, ad curretly co-chairs Uderstadig Laguage, a atioal iitiative to address the challeges ad opportuities preseted by the Commo Core State Stadards for Eglish laguage learers. Itroductio Califoria s implemetatio of the Commo Core State Stadards (CCSS), ad its goverig state role i oe of the Race to the Top comprehesive academic assessmet cosortia, preset a major opportuity to dig deeply ito the challeges of fair ad accurate assessmet of the academic performace of its Eglish Learers (ELs). Moreover, recet state legislatio (AB 124) requires the state to revise its Eglish Laguage Developmet (ELD) stadards to better reflect the laguage demads foud i ew Eglish Laguage Arts stadards. This i tur requires movig to a ext-geeratio ELD assessmet based o those revised stadards. How will Califoria coceptualize the academic uses of laguage for its Eglish Learers? How will its ELD stadards correspod to the commo core stadards? What will this mea for EL istructio ad assessmet? Califoria caot afford to igore or postpoe questios of how its K-12 educatioal system will support these studets success. With over 1.4 millio curret Eglish Learers, aother 800,000 former, reclassified Eglish Learers, ad over 300,000 iitially Eglish-fluet liguistic miority stu- Executive Summary Califoria caot afford to igore or postpoe questios of how to support the academic success of Eglish Learers (ELs) i the state s K-12 educatio system. Laguage-miority studets already represet more tha 40 percet of the state s K-12 public educatio studets, ad their share of erollmet is growig. How well Califoria serves these studets will help determie the vitality of the state s ecoomy ad society i the years ahead. I this policy brief, Robert Liquati ad Keji Hakuta argue that ext-geeratio college- ad career-ready stadards sigal a fudametal shift i the expectatios for sophisticated laguage practices required of all studets. This shift has eormous systemic implicatios for how we assess ELs academic performace; what Eglish Laguage Developmet (ELD) stadards emphasize; how we istruct ad assess ELD to better develop ELs academic uses of laguage; how teachers istruct ad studets lear both laguage ad cotet; ad how the state ca desig more uaced, resposive accoutability policies ad systems. Cotiued o page 2.

2 P O L I C Y B R I E F Executive Summary (Cot.) Califoria s implemetatio of the Commo Core State Stadards (CCSS), its revisio of State ELD stadards, ad its goverig state role i the SMARTER Balaced Assessmet Cosortium (SBAC) all preset opportuities to move forward o the challeges of fairly ad accurately assessig the academic performace of Eglish Learers. Liquati ad Hakuta argue that: 1. The state should address the correspodece betwee its ELD stadards ad its cotet stadards strategically, to idetify ad prioritize aspects of the CCSS that maximize the potetial for ew assessmets to atted to ad measure laguage that is most relevat to academic cotet costructs. 2. The ext-geeratio academic cotet assessmets ow beig developed by SBAC must move toward gaugig the use of academic laguage of all studets ad reportig o their performace. dets i the state (Califoria Departmet of Educatio, 2012a), this combied group costitutes over 41% of the state s K-12 public educatio populatio. This brief coteds that ext-geeratio college- ad career-ready stadards sigal a fudametal shift i the expectatios for sophisticated laguage use 1 required of all studets. This shift has eormous systemic implicatios for how we assess ELs academic 3. Educators eed to shift how they provide both ELD ad core cotet istructio so that EL studets have greater opportuities to lear laguage through cotet, ad to lear cotet usig laguage. The authors offer cocrete recommedatios throughout the brief to help educatioal leaders ad policymakers move toward these goals. As Califoria implemets extgeeratio stadards, istructio, assessmets, ad accoutability, our state is uiquely situated both i its eeds ad its resources to help advace these iterrelated efforts i directios that are more meaigful, relevat, ad effective for its may EL ad laguage-miority studets, as well as for its teachers, parets ad other stakeholders. performace; what ELD stadards emphasize; how we istruct ad assess ELD to better develop ELs academic uses of laguage; how teachers istruct ad studets lear both laguage ad cotet; ad how the state ca desig more uaced, resposive accoutability policies ad systems. I particular, this brief argues that: the state should address the correspodece betwee its ELD stadards ad its cotet stadards strategically that it idetify ad prioritize aspects of the ew stadards that maximize the potetial of attedig to ad measurig laguage that is most relevat to academic cotet costructs; ext-geeratio academic cotet assessmets must move toward gaugig the use of academic laguage of all studets ad reportig o their performace; ad that educators eed to shift how they provide both ELD ad core cotet istructio so that EL studets have greater opportuities to lear laguage through cotet, ad to lear cotet usig laguage. Before delvig ito these argumets, we first lay out some fudametal cosideratios that ofte go ustated i policy discussios regardig Eglish learers. Fudametal Cosideratios Regardig Eglish Learers Dyamic subgroup membership: Ulike desigatios for other subgroups of studets, which are based o fairly stable studet characteristics, Eglish Learer status is by desig temporary: ideed, ELs are expected to leave the category as a result of effective, specialized laguage istructio ad the academic support services to which they are legally etitled. 2 I Califoria, defiig EL status is complicated ad varies across districts. While iitial idetificatio is based solely o laguage miority backgroud ad Eglish laguage proficiecy (ELP), 2 HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS

3 redesigatio processes icorporate both liguistic ad academic performace stadards ad utilize both state ad local criteria. This complicated process causes several problems. First, the most liguistically ad academically accomplished studets exit the EL category over time, while those ot makig sufficiet progress remai ad are joied by ewly-eterig ELs, who are by defiitio at low ELD levels. This iheret revolvig door effect systematically skews membership toward lower-performig studets ad systematically uder-represets growth as reported by sub-group statistics, thereby udermiig meaigful accoutability. (Liquati, 2011; Wolf et al., 2008; Natioal Research Coucil, 2011a; Workig Group o ELL Policy, 2010). Moreover, while assessmet ad accoutability systems usually treat the EL category as biary (a studet is EL or ot), ELs are very diverse ad exhibit a wide rage of laguage ad academic competecies, both i Eglish ad their primary laguage (Capps et al., 2005; Taylor, Stecher, O Day, Naftel, & Le Floch, 2010). Uderstadig such diversity is essetial to successfully build o EL studets stregths, ad to moitor ad meet their academic ad liguistic eeds. Fially, eve withi Califoria, reclassificatio criteria ad processes vary such that a studet who is desigated EL i oe district would have already exited the EL sub-group if educated i a eighborig district. Developmetal relatioship betwee laguage ad cotet learig: Eglish laguage proficiecy is foudatioal to ELs academic success. A EL s Eglish proficiecy level clearly affects her ability to lear academic cotet i Eglish ad to demostrate academic kowledge ad skills o assessmet evets carried out i Eglish this is i fact the defiig characteristic of a EL i federal law (Sectio 9101(25)(D) of ESEA). Cotrary to popular assumptios, it takes 4-7 years o average for most Eglish Learers to develop the academic Eglish capacities they eed to effectively hadle grade-level cotet demads, with the actual time required depedig o such factors as their age/grade o etry to U.S. schools, iitial Eglish laguage proficiecy, ad prior educatioal experieces (Cook, Liquati, Chie & Jug, 2012; Cook & Zhao, 2011; Hakuta, Butler, & Witt, 2000; Thompso, 2012). Moreover, laguage proficiecy becomes icreasigly complex as studets move through school. The kid of proficiecy required for academic work i Grade 2, for example, is very differet from that required i Grade 9, as the laguage demads of academic subject matter icrease substatially with grade level. Eve reclassified former ELs may eed opportuities ad support to cotiue developig their academic laguage proficiecy ad cotet area kowledge ad skills as they coted with icreasigly complex cogitive ad liguistic demads. ELP ad academic assessmet: Academic assessmets that fail to take accout of ELs Eglish laguage proficiecy may ot adequately measure their cotet area kowledge ad skills. 3 If a EL studet performs poorly o a cotet assessmet, educators ad policymakers eed to kow whether this performace is due to: 1) isufficiet Eglish laguage proficiecy to demostrate cotet kowledge; 2) a lack of cotet kowledge or opportuity to lear cotet; 3) costruct-irrelevat iterferece (e.g., uecessarily complex laguage i the assessmet); or 4) other sources of bias or error (e.g., cultural distace or rater misiterpretatio). Policy Implicatios What are the policy implicatios of these cosideratios? First, sice so may academic tasks are mediated by laguage practices, aspects of laguage that are most relevat to performig sophisticated cotet area tasks should be made explicit to teachers ad studets through the stadards, assessmets, istructioal support materials, ad teacher traiig ad professioal developmet. Cotetrelevat laguage use must also be fostered across the curriculum, formatively assessed as part of pedagogical practice, ad ultimately measured ad reported i summative assessmets. Ideed, the ew stadards (see below) make the laguage demads of the cotet areas more saliet tha ever (see Uderstadig Laguage (2012), Buch, Pimetel, ad Kibler (2012), Moschkovich (2012), Lee, Qui ad Valdes (2012)). Secod, it is essetial to disaggregate ELs academic performace by their Eglish-laguage proficiecy level, ad to examie their Eglish-laguage proficiecy growth over time i the HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS 3

4 P O L I C Y B R I E F educatio system. Settig ad examiig bechmarks -- both liguistic ad academic -- for the progress of curret ELs allows us to idetify more quickly those EL studets ot makig progress, ad to support their acceleratio so that they are ot placed at risk of becomig log-term Eglish learers. This bechmarkig will esure that these studets cotiue to progress both liguistically ad academically. Third, if our itetio is to examie log-term outcomes ad treds of EL performace to determie educatioal program effectiveess, we eed to stabilize the EL cohort i order to portray log-term results more accurately. Defiig ad reportig the total ever- EL populatio, icludig curret ELs ad reclassified former ELs, would help esure that educatioal systems receive a full accoutig of their effectiveess i preparig for college ad careers all studets who bega as Eglish learers (Workig Group o ELL Policy, 2011; Hopkis, Thompso, Liquati, Hakuta, & August [uder review]; Sauders & Marcelletti, 2012). This ever-el group would ot replace targeted attetio ad reportig of progress for curret ELs; rather it would add to our curret picture of system performace ad eable us to craft educatioal decisios for ELs based o more accurate ad log-term iformatio about studet learig. With these fudametal cosideratios i mid, we ow tur to a discussio how Califoria s ew Commo Core State Stadards for Eglish Laguage Arts ad Literacy i History/Social Studies, Sciece ad Techical Subjects, as well as its Commo Core State Stadards for Mathematics, chage the educatioal ladscape with regard to laguage, cotet ad Eglish learers. We believe that uderstadig ad actig o these chages will ultimately beefit ot oly ELs i the state, but will also foster more productive policies ad practices across school systems ad for all the state s studets. The Laguage Demads of the Next-Geeratio Academic Stadards As oted above, the ew stadards brig out the laguage ecessary to attai academic cotet proficiecy far more explicitly tha has bee the case i prior stadards. The Commo Core State Stadards i Eglish Laguage Arts ad Mathematics, as well as curret draft Next-Geeratio Sciece Stadards, sigal a fudametal shift i the kowledge, skills, ad abilities that studets must develop i order to be college- ad career-ready i the 21st cetury. Nowhere is this shift more obvious tha i the sophisticated commad of laguage that studets will eed i the istructioal eviromet of the ew stadards. While previous stadards were largely silet o the kids of laguage demads placed o studets i academic subject areas, the ew stadards make them explicit. Cosider this descriptive portrait of studets meetig the Eglish Laguage Arts Commo Core State Stadards: Studets ca, without sigificat scaffoldig, comprehed ad evaluate complex texts across a rage of types ad disciplies, ad they ca costruct effective argumets ad covey itricate or multifaceted iformatio. Likewise, studets are able idepedetly to discer a speaker s key poits, request clarificatio, ad ask relevat questios. They build o others ideas, articulate their ow ideas, ad cofirm they have bee uderstood (Commo Core State Stadards for Eglish Laguage Arts & Literacy i History/Social Studies, Sciece, ad Techical Subjects, p. 7, emphasis added). The ew Mathematics Stadards place similar importace o studets ability to use laguage effectively to perform ad commuicate their uderstadig of mathematical practices: Mathematically proficiet studets uderstad ad use stated assumptios, defiitios, ad previously established results i costructig argumets. They make cojectures ad build a logical progressio of statemets to explore the truth of their cojectures. They justify their coclusios, commuicate them to others, ad respod to the argumets of others (Commo Core State Stadards for Mathematics, p. 6, emphasis added). Although the developmet of Next- Geeratio Sciece Stadards is i progress (Achieve, 2012), the fial versio adopted will udoubtedly make clear that studets eed to egage i similarly sophisticated uses of laguage to eact scietific iquiries, explaa- 4 HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS

5 tios, ad argumets. Ideed, amog the essetial sciece practices delieated i the Natioal Research Coucil framework guidig the sciece stadards developmet are costructig explaatios ad desigig solutios; egagig i argumet from evidece; ad obtaiig, evaluatig, ad commuicatig iformatio (Natioal Research Coucil, 2011b). I fact, the CCSS specify to a uprecedeted degree the kids of academic uses of laguage that all studets eed i order to perform cotet area tasks ad demostrate subject matter mastery. For example, the K-5 readig stadards require studets to maifest their kowledge ad comprehesio through explaiig, describig, comparig ad cotrastig, arguig, givig defiitios, givig recouts, summarizig ad paraphrasig, ad explaiig cause-ad-effect. Thirdgraders are expected to recogize ad observe differeces betwee the covetios of spoke ad writte stadard Eglish, while 11th-graders are expected to propel coversatios by posig ad respodig to questios that probe reasoig ad evidece. The mathematical practices that udergird CCSS math stadards likewise expect studets to costruct viable argumets ad critique the reasoig of others, essetially viewig laguage ot just as a vehicle for cogitive represetatio, but also for discourse withi the commuity of learers. I additio to explicitly defiig K-12 listeig, speakig, readig, ad writig stadards i Eglish Laguage Arts (ELA), the CCSS i ELA also defie literacy stadards for history/social studies, sciece, ad techical subjects at the secodary level. There are clear academic literacy ad laguage practices iheret i these stadards, icludig aalyzig ad summarizig hypotheses ad explaatios; followig directios exactly; iferrig relatioships amog terms, processes ad cocepts; ad comparig ad cotrastig iformatio. The implicatios of these laguage uses i cotet learig are systemic, ad should ot be viewed as cofied to aligmet efforts of state ELD stadards with CCSS/ELA, as specified i curret state law (AB 124). Across these cotet areas, all studets will ow be expected to egage with more complex texts ad to carry out more laguage-rich tasks i disciplieappropriate ways durig both learig ad assessmet situatios. I sum, competece i a subject area ecessarily icludes competece i the laguage uses of that subject area. For example, the CCSS imply that studets (ad their teachers) caot be truly proficiet i mathematics without beig able to commuicate mathematically, ad about mathematics. Policy Implicatios The seismic shifts withi the academic stadards will require comparable chages i educatio policies. Teachers, materials, assessmets, ad systems must shift, because promotig laguage developmet is o loger the exclusive provice of the ELD or the Eglish Laguage Arts teacher it is the resposibility of all teachers. Policies must esure that teacher preparatio, accreditatio, ad professioal developmet equip teachers to support academic laguage practices ad uses i the cotet areas, for all studets ad for ELs i particular. The preset certificatio requiremets goverig the Califoria Teacher of Eglish Learers (CTEL) ad ESL/ELD edorsemets must be carefully examied to esure their aligmet with the laguage demads of CCSS. All teachers must be willig ad prepared to model, teach ad provide studets rich, daily opportuities to egage with ad develop the itesive laguage practices of their academic disciplies. These practices must exted far beyod specialized vocabulary ad setecelevel structures, ad should socialize studets to the discourse patters ad registers (forms of talk) that learers of sciece, mathematics, Eglish laguage arts, etc. use to iterpret what is spoke ad read, iteract with adults ad peers, ad preset their kowledge ad thikig to others -- i effect, to act usig laguage i these academic settigs (Qui, Valdes, & Lee, i press). Policies aroud curriculum materials ad state materials adoptio criteria must also esure that appropriate attetio is paid to supportig the laguage demads iheret i the cotet stadards. Fially, policies must foster school ad district leadership practices HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS 5

6 P O L I C Y B R I E F ecessary to support ad maage the collaboratio betwee ELD ad cotet teachers that is iheretly called for by the stadards. Next-Geeratio Eglish Laguage Developmet Stadards: Why (ad How) Correspodece to Commo Core State Stadards Must Be Strategic Curret Califoria law (AB 124) requires that the state ELD stadards be aliged to Califoria s adoptio of the Commo Core ELA stadards, a process that is uder way (Califoria Departmet of Educatio, 2012b). 4 I additio, federal regulatio i several places requires correspodece betwee state ELD stadards ad CCSS, icludig regulatios o state assuraces ecessary for applicatios for flexibility uder the Elemetary ad Secodary Educatio Act (ESEA), ad i the most recet Ehaced Assessmet Grat competitio for fudig to develop ext-geeratio ELD assessmets. Correspodece has may iterpretatios, but we argue that it must, at a miimum, relate the ELD stadards to the most high-leverage laguage uses cotaied i the CCSS, startig with the key laguage demads described earlier. The ew cotet stadards substatiate a view of laguage proficiecy far beyod vocabulary, cotrol of grammatical forms ad ative-like fluecy. They call for high levels of cogitive egagemet, metacogitive ad metaliguistic skills, ad academic discourse withi the disciplies. Just as these competecies caot be developed usig a traditioal, trasmissio-model subject matter pedagogy, either ca they be fostered with a laguage pedagogy that privileges accuracy ad correctess at the expese of meaig-makig ad commuicative performace. Like all studets, Eglish Learers eed opportuities ad support to use laguage effectively i academic cotet areas. I order for these opportuities ad support to be possible, ext-geeratio ELD stadards caot be coceived of or preseted as tagetially related, juior ELA stadards. Rather, they must be thoroughly grouded i ad strategically correspod to ext-geeratio cotet stadards. As Va Lier ad Walqui (2012) make clear i characterizig differet pedagogical ad liguistic approaches to laguage learig, the ew stadards are far more compatible with a view of laguage that is a embedded part of istructioal activity (laguage as actio), rather tha as a collectio of forms ad fuctios to be taught i isolatio. We also argue that it is critical to address the laguage demads of all subject areas, ad ot just limit the focus of ELD stadards to ELA, as Califoria law requires. The laguage of mathematics istructio ad sciece istructio differ i importat ways, ad this should be equally reflected i Califoria s ew ELD stadards. 5 We argue that a full correspodece of the cotet stadards to the ELD stadards would highlight both the commoalities as well as divergeces i the laguage uses across these disciplies. Policy Implicatios Curret ELD stadards eed to be recoceptualized so that they ucover ad delieate the liguistic demads embedded withi the ew stadards, icludig foudatioal (sometimes referred to as social or basic coversatioal ) as well as geeral ad disciplie-specific academic laguage uses. This icludes specifyig key laguage fuctios ad discourse practices that studets must be able to carry out i disciplie-appropriate ways, such as obtaiig iformatio, demostratig uderstadig, costructig explaatios, ad egagig i argumets. Such target laguage uses should be expressed i meaigful progressios that help teachers appropriately scaffold ad support studets i cotiually buildig the liguistic capacities eeded to develop sophisticated cotet kowledge, skills ad abilities. If doe well, these progressios ca also guide ELD assessmet developers to desig appropriate laguage tasks that operatioalize ad measure growth of these target laguage uses. They ca also help cotet assessmet developers better uderstad ad modulate the laguage demads of academic test items ad performace tasks. Ad they ca iform the formative assessmet resources that the comprehesive assessmet cosortia are to provide for teachers of Eglish learers (see Bailey & Wolf, 2012). 6 HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS

7 Next-Geeratio Assessmet Systems for Eglish Learers: Explorig Discipliary Academic Laguage Uses for the Beefit of All Studets Much of the discussio about the academic uses of laguage that are brought to life i the ew stadards applies as much to ative Eglish speakers as it does to ELs. May studets (ad ideed teachers) will be challeged to egage i the kids of itesive laguage practices that are articulated across the disciplies withi the stadards. Studets do t typically come to school already able to use the laguage of mathematics or social studies or sciece. They eed to be appreticed ito learig these laguage practices at school through strog istructio. While such laguage uses may be particularly challegig for ELs ad o-stadard Eglish speakers to lear, the disciplie-specific discourses ad the higher-level commuicative skills embedded i the stadards imply ew learig eve for studets eterig school as stadard Eglish speakers. These challeges, we argue, eed to be tured ito opportuities to ivigorate the laguage capacities of all studets, ad especially ELs, who could most beefit from pedagogical support that leverages ad augmets their liguistic resources. Oe way to brig attetio to this opportuity is to draw out iformatio from those portios of the ew cotet assessmets that most directly elicit complex laguage uses iextricably related to more complex focal cotet costructs. The strogest form of this propositio is that such discipliespecific social ad academic laguage competecies delieated (or implied) i ext-geeratio academic cotet stadards ca ad should be called out, measured ad reported for all studets -- Eglish Learers, reclassified former Eglish Learers, stadard Eglish learers, ad mooligual stadard Eglish speakers -- as part of the Race To the Top academic cotet assessmet systems (i Califoria s case, the Smarter Balaced Assessmet Cosortium or SBAC). This operatioalizatio ad measuremet of academic laguage uses could be attempted first o a pilot basis, as part of the performace-based tasks, or as part of SBAC classroom-based formative assessmet practices ad tools. However it is doe, we believe that it must be attempted because the ew cotet stadards clearly (ad we believe, rightly) emphasize these disciplie-specific laguage practices. Bailey ad Wolf (2012) explore this potetial complemetary measuremet of laguage use for ELs startig from a ELD stadards ad assessmet perspective. They sketch a sceario where ELD stadards ad assessmets delieate precursor laguage progressios; for more advaced levels of laguage proficiecy, the ew academic achievemet assessmets develop ad pilot ovel optios of assessig laguage related to the CCSS. Doig so, they ote, would also require the combied expertise of ESL ad cotet teachers to develop ad implemet local-level performative ad formative assessmets of laguage ad cotet kowledge durig authetic cotet istructio, activities ad practices (p.5). This collaboratio, they also maitai, would better commuicate throughout the system that EL studets Eglish laguage proficiecy is to be developed i cojuctio with cotet learig i cotet classes. Attemptig to use the academic assessmet system to examie discipliespecific laguage uses would respod to a steadily growig call to measure academic laguage uses for all studets, yet it also raises sigificat challeges. For example, how do we esure the laguage competecies posited i the cotet stadards are truly itegral to demostratig mastery of subject matter cotet? Ca we avoid geeratig uecessary liguistic complexity for studets i assessig their laguage use related to academic tasks? Regardig ELs i particular, how might we alig the assessmet ifrastructure to clearly ad coheretly articulate where the threshold is crossed from ESL/ELD precursor laguage progressios to laguage costructs foud i the cotet stadards (Abedi & Liquati, 2012; Bailey & Wolf, 2012)? Questios like these eed to be aswered i order to esure the validity of ifereces about studets laguage practices draw from the ew academic cotet assessmet system. Give the complexities described, we evisio a staged approach that first focuses o developig teachers capacities to create laguage-rich eviromets that foster studets laguage uses withi academic subject HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS 7

8 P O L I C Y B R I E F matter teachig ad learig. This capacity buildig should also leverage the assessmet cosortia s formative assessmet resources (see below), while kowledge is gaied ad more summative assessmet approaches are researched ad developed via rapid prototypig over the ext two to three years. The special role of formative assessmet As suggested at several poits i this brief, formative assessmet practices have eormous potetial to stregthe teachers capacities to developmetally stage or scaffold ELs laguage ad cotet learig. Formative assessmet is a process used by teachers ad studets durig istructio that provides feedback to adjust ogoig teachig ad learig to improve studets achievemet of iteded istructioal outcomes (Heritage, 2010, p.9). It occurs withi istructio through iformal observatios, coversatios, ad other carefully plaed, istructioally embedded methods that allow teachers to gather evidece of studet learig, spur studet reflectio, ad offer hits ad cues to move studets forward i uderstadig ad acquirig skills ad kowledge. As Heritage otes (based o Black & Wiliam, 1998), effective formative assessmet practice has at least the followig three compoets: (1) teacher adjustmet of istructio i respose to assessmet evidece; (2) feedback studets receive about their learig; ad (3) studet participatio i the process through selfassessmet. We coted that formative assessmet for ad as learig ca become the most importat elemet of a effective assessmet system for ELs precisely because it is achored i direct, i-the-momet commuicatio betwee teacher ad studet (as well as betwee studets, ad via studet self-reflectio) that is richly ad authetically cocered with specific cotet area work. It is precisely these kids of meaigful iteractios that icrease productive, disciplie-specific laguage uses i the service of cotet learig, ad also ehace the commuicatio skills for teachig ad learig of both teachers ad studets. I fact, viewed from withi a teachig ad learig paradigm rather tha withi a measuremet paradigm (Heritage, 2010), formative assessmet practices costitute a key meas of access ad egagemet for ELs cotet learig ad laguage developmet. Next-Geeratio Istructio: What Implicatios Do the New Stadards Have for Istructig Eglish Learers? The Uderstadig Laguage Iitiative (2012), which brigs together leadig authors of the ew cotet stadards with experts i secod laguage acquisitio ad EL educatio, coteds that the overlap betwee laguage ad cotet has dramatically icreased, particularly as a result of the focus o higher-order laguage uses i the ew stadards. I additio, the Iitiative argues that this overlap brigs with it a urget eed to atted to the particulars of istructioal discourse i the disciplies. This iterrelatioship of laguage ad cotet is represeted i Figure 1 below. FIGURE 1. Schema of the iterrelatioship of laguage ad academic cotet (Uderstadig Laguage, 2012). Math Discourse Complex text Explaatio Argumetatio Text structures Setece structures Δ Vocabulary practices Laguage Discourse Complex text Explaatio Argumetatio Text structures Setece structures Δ Vocabulary practices Laguage Arts Discourse Complex text Explaatio Argumetatio Text structures Setece structures Δ Vocabulary practices Sciece 8 HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS

9 This overlappig ad itegrated view of where laguage developmet opportuities ad resposibilities reside has major implicatios for the istructio of ELs. At preset, secod laguage developmet is see largely as the resposibility of the ESL/ELD teacher, while cotet developmet is that of the subject area teacher. Give the ew stadards explicitess i how laguage must be used to eact discipliary kowledge ad skills, such a strict divisio of labor is o loger viable. Cotet area teachers must uderstad ad leverage the laguage ad literacy practices foud i sciece, mathematics, history/social studies, ad the laguage arts to ehace studets egagemet i laguage-rich classrooms that fuel both their academic ad liguistic developmet. ESL/ELD teachers must cultivate a deeper kowledge of the discipliary laguage that EL studets eed ad help their studets to grow i usig it to carry out discipliary practices. Far greater collaboratio ad sharig of expertise are eeded amog ESL/ELD teachers ad cotet area teachers at the secodary level. As Bailey & Wolf (2012) ote, a close collaboratio ivolvig the combied expertise of ESL ad cotet teachers is eeded to develop ad implemet local-level performative ad formative assessmets of laguage ad cotet kowledge durig authetic cotet istructio, activities ad practices. At the elemetary level, far greater aligmet ad itegratio are eeded across ESL/ELD ad subject matter learig objectives, curriculum, ad lesso plas that teachers i self-cotaied classrooms prepare ad deliver. EL studets reachig a threshold level of Eglish laguage proficiecy must be effectively supported by cotet area teachers to develop iterpersoal, presetatioal, ad iterpretive uses of laguage through carefully structured iteractios withi a commuity of learers (Valdes, 2011; Walqui & Heritage, 2012). Next-Geeratio Accoutability Policies ad Systems: Improvig System Capacity ad Resposiveess The foregoig discussio provides directio for how Califoria desigs ext-geeratio accoutability policies ad systems for Eglish learers. Eve as the reauthorizatio of ESEA remais stalled, Califoria has the opportuity to iovate ad challege the curret system through statutory federal waiver optios, ad to explore ad promote ideas that ca ifluece reauthorizatio. I particular, the state ca build o the kids of methods ad techiques recetly highlighted by the atioal Title III evaluatio supplemetal report (Cook, Liquati, Chie & Jug, 2012) for validatig key levels of Eglish laguage proficiecy i relatioship to subject matter performace, examiig time frames for attaiig these liguistic bechmarks, ad positig academic progress bechmarks i relatio to studets ELD level ad time i the state educatioal system. Califoria ca also develop reportig structures that stabilize the EL cohort to show more accurately the log-term impact of educatioal systems o EL progress ad attaimet through the ed of high school to better portray college- ad career-readiess (ELL Policy Workig Group, 2010). These steps ca brig together with much greater coherece the assessmet ad accoutability frameworks of ESEA s Title III ad Title I. The state ca also support the developmet ad dissemiatio of local evaluatio ad accoutability frameworks to examie cohorts of EL studets progress over time ad, as a goverig state i SBAC, esure that formative assessmet processes ad practices are substatially directed towards helpig teachers better uderstad ad respod to the liguistic ad cogitive resources of Eglish learers at all stages of Eglish laguage developmet. Cetral to all accoutability efforts that the state udertakes should be a focus o buildig teacher ad admiistrator capacity to cultivate studets disciplie-specific laguage uses i cotet area istructio, ad to esure ELD is situated to strategically support these disciplie-specific laguage uses. Moreover, the state ca work to esure that cotet ad ELD test developers idetify meaigful overlaps betwee cotet ad laguage expectatios to stregthe the likages -- ad predictive validity -- betwee both assessmet systems. Movig Forward While we have made recommedatios throughout this policy brief, we recap the most saliet oes here: HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS 9

10 P O L I C Y B R I E F Assessmet ad Accoutability i Cotet Areas: Through its ogoig revisio of state assessmet ad accoutability policies ad practices, the Califoria Departmet of Educatio (CDE), i cojuctio with the Califoria state legislature, ca more clearly articulate expected liguistic ad academic growth expectatios ad more carefully examie ad report o ELs Eglish laguage proficiecy growth over time i the educatio system, as well as their academic progress i relatio to ELD level ad time. The state ca also stabilize the EL cohort i reportig log-term outcomes to give a fairer ad more accurate portrait of the populatio s performace over time. I additio, it ca defie, examie, ad report o log-term Eglish learer populatios ot to stigmatize studets that have bee least well-served by the system, but rather to focus support for icreased capacity of, ad to hold accoutable, the adults who serve these studets. Smarter Balaced Assessmet Cosortium (SBAC): As a goverig state withi SBAC, Califoria should work with likemided states to advocate for the Cosortium to begi plaig ow to measure ad report for all studets, as part of the cotet assessmets, those sophisticated laguage uses iextricably related to more laguage-rich cotet costructs foud throughout the ew stadards. This ca be phased i through the strategic use of professioal developmet ad formative assessmet practices ad tools that stregthe teacher capacity to foster studets laguage practices withi the cotet areas; it ca the be ramped up through developmetal research ad rapid prototypig of performace tasks i iterim/ bechmark ad summative assessmets i two to three years after SBAC s lauch. Moreover, SBAC member states ca urge academic cotet assessmet developers to use CCSSO s ELP framework ad other aalytic documets that delieate the laguage demads foud i the ew cotet stadards. This will guide them i explorig methods for measurig those laguage uses most cetral to academic cotet costructs. ELD Stadards ad Assessmets: The CDE eeds to esure that ext-geeratio ELD stadards are recoceptualized to ucover ad delieate the high-leverage social ad academic laguage uses foud withi ad across all of the ew cotet stadards, icludig laguage arts, math ad sciece. Although curret legislatio requires the state to alig its ELD stadards to the ew ELA stadards, othig i the legislatio prohibits the state from further aligig its ELD stadards to the specific laguage demads of these additioal cotet areas. These stadards will drive ELD istructio ad curriculum, as well as the ext-geeratio ELD assessmet system, icludig the defiitio of who is a Eglish learer ad what laguage capacities are key for all teachers to focus o. Expadig the aligmet is eeded to stregthe the validity, rigor ad utility of these ELD stadards. Teacher Preparatio: Give the fudametal resposibility of all teachers to foster ELs sophisticated social ad academic laguage uses ad discourse uder ext-geeratio academic stadards, the Califoria Teacher Credetialig Commissio (CTCC) should examie curret certificatio requiremets goverig CTEL ad ESL/ELD edorsemets to esure they reflect the ehaced pedagogical practices that cotet area teachers ad ESL/ELD teachers will eed to foster studets laguage uses withi ad across disciplies. Istitutios of higher educatio will also eed to esure that those deliverig teacher preparatio programs effectively equip aspirig ad ovice teachers usig updated coceptios of secod laguage developmet ad sheltered cotet istructio, particularly via appreticeships that foster pedagogical practices for developig laguage through cotet, ad learig cotet via laguage- ad discourserich classroom practices. School districts must also retool their professioal developmet practices ad systems to help support ew ad experieced teachers 10 HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS

11 i the productive struggle toward more effective istructio ad formative assessmet regardig laguage ad cotet (Satos, Darlig-Hammod, & Cheuk, 2012). They should ot do so i isolatio. A growig umber of cross-district collaboratives ad teacher etworks facilitated by web techologies are grapplig with key challeges of istructioal practice raised by ext-geeratio stadards. Such collaboratio across districts ca help staff explore ad refie effective professioal developmet strategies. As it implemets ext-geeratio stadards, istructio, assessmets, ad accoutability, Califoria is uiquely situated both i its eeds ad its resources to help advace these iterrelated efforts i directios that are more meaigful, relevat, ad effective for its may EL ad laguage miority studets, as well as for its teachers, parets ad other stakeholders. How well it does so will determie, to a large extet, the vitality of the state s ecoomy ad society i the years ahead. HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS 11

12 P O L I C Y B R I E F Edotes The authors thak Gary Cook, Patricia Gádara ad Jeifer O Day for their helpful isights ad suggestios. All errors remaiig are those of the authors. 1 The demads of laguage i academic cotet refer to ay laguage, ot just to Eglish. The uses of laguage for studets ad teachers are the same whether studets are i Eglish-oly or biligual/ dual immersio programs. 2 Eglish learers are laguage miority studets ot sufficietly proficiet i Eglish to be able to beefit adequately from regular maistream istructio ad demostrate their kowledge ad abilities usig Eglish. 3 Note that issues of measuremet are distict from issues of accoutability. From a measuremet perspective, kowig a ELL s ELP level (particularly with respect to literacy) is essetial to judgig the validity of the ifereces from the assessmet. With respect to educator accoutability, however, there may still be a ratioale for icludig such results to determie school or district effectiveess, particularly if ELLs have ot bee supported to progress i their Eglish-laguage proficiecy over time (see Cook et al., 2012). 4 Federal law Sectio 3113(B)(2) refers to studet academic stadards i Sectio 1111(B)(1), which ecompasses ELA, math ad sciece. We believe that, by this criterio, Califoria s AB 124 does ot fully meet the requiremets of curret Federal law. 5 Ideed the Coucil of Chief State School Officers has just developed a framework for the creatio ad evaluatio of ELP stadards that correspod to the CCSS ad ext-geeratio sciece stadards, ad this documet cotais a separate aalysis of the laguage demads of these cotet areas (CCSSO, 2012). This framework ca help idetify the laguage demads i these cotet stadards. 12 HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS

13 Refereces Abedi, J., & Liquati, R. (2012, Jauary). Issues ad opportuities i improvig the quality of large scale assessmet Systems for Eglish laguage learers. Paper preseted at the Uderstadig Laguage Coferece, Staford Uiversity, CA. Retrieved from pdf/academic-papers/07-abedi%20liquati%20 Issues%20ad%20Opportuities%20FINAL.pdf Achieve, Ic. (2012). Next-geeratio sciece stadards, public draft (2012, May). Retrieved from Bailey, A. L., & Wolf, M. K. (2012, Jauary). The challege of assessig laguage proficiecy aliged to the commo core state stadards ad some possible solutios. Paper preseted at the Uderstadig Laguage Coferece, Staford Uiversity, CA. Retrieved from default/files/pdf/academic-papers/08-bailey%20 Wolf%20Challeges%20of%20Assessmet%20 Laguage%20Proficiecy%20FINAL_0.pdf Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Iside the black box: Raisig stadards through classroom assessmet. Phi Delta Kappa, 80(2), Califoria Departmet of Educatio. (2012a). Data- Quest Eglish learer demographics. Available at ate&subject=lc&submit1=submit Califoria Departmet of Educatio. (2012b). Eglish laguage developmet stadards revisio. Website resource available at ca.gov/sp/el/er/eldstadards.asp Capps, R., Fix, M., Murray, J., Ost, J., Passel J., & Herwatoro, S. (2005). The ew demography of America s schools: Immigratio ad the No Child Left Behid Act. Washigto, DC: Urba Istitute. Commo Core State Stadards Iitiative. (2010). Commo core state stadards for Eglish laguage arts & literacy i history/social studies, sciece, ad techical subjects. Retrieved from Stadards.pdf Commo Core State Stadards Iitiative. (2010). Commo core state stadards for mathematics. Retrieved from assets/ccssi_math%20stadards.pdf Cook, H. G., Liquati, R., Chie, M., & Jug, H. (2012). Natioal evaluatio of Title III implemetatio supplemetal report: Explorig approaches to settig Eglish laguage proficiecy performace criteria ad moitorig Eglish learer progress. Washigto, DC: U.S. Departmet of Educatio, Office of Plaig, Evaluatio ad Policy Developmet. Cook, H. G., & Zhao, Y. G. (2011, April). How Eglish laguage proficiecy assessmets maifest growth. Paper preseted at aual meetig of the America Educatioal Research Associatio, New Orleas, LA. Coucil of Chief State School Officers. (2012). Framework for Eglish laguage proficiecy/ developmet stadards correspodig to the commo core state stadards ad the ext geeratio sciece stadards. Washigto, DC: Author. Hakuta, K., Butler, Y., & Witt, D. (2000). How log does it take Eglish learers to attai proficiecy? (Policy Report No ). Sata Barbara, CA: Uiversity of Califoria Liguistic Miority Research Istitute. Heritage, M. (2010). Formative assessmet ad ext-geeratio assessmet systems: Are we losig a opportuity? Los Ageles: Natioal Ceter for Research o Evaluatio, Stadards, ad Studet Testig (CRESST). Paper prepared for the Coucil of Chief State School Officers. Hopkis, M., Thompso, K., Liquati, R., Hakuta, K., & August, D. (uder review). Fully accoutig for Eglish learer performace: A key issue i ESEA reauthorizatio. Liquati, R. (2011). Stregtheig assessmet for Eglish learer success: How ca the promise of the commo core state stadards ad iovative assessmet systems be realized? I D. Plak ad J. Norto (Eds.), The road ahead for state assessmets (pp ). Palo Alto, CA & Cambridge, MA: Policy Aalysis for Califoria Educatio ad Reie Ceter for Educatio Research & Policy. Natioal Research Coucil. (2011a). Allocatig federal fuds for state programs for Eglish laguage learers. Pael to review alterative sources for the limited Eglish proficiecy allocatio formula uder Title III, Part A., Elemetary ad Secodary Educatio Act, Committee o Natioal Statistics ad Board Testig ad Assessmet. Washigto, DC: Natioal Academies Press. Natioal Research Coucil. (2011b). A framework for K-12 sciece educatio: Practices, crosscuttig themes, ad core ideas. Washigto, DC: Natioal Academies Press. Qui, H., Valdés, G., & Lee, O. (uder review). Sciece ad laguage for Eglish laguage learers: Laguage demads ad opportuities i relatio to ext geeratio sciece stadards. Satos, M., Darlig-Hammod, L., & Cheuk, T. (2012, Jauary). Teacher developmet to support Eglish laguage learers i the cotext of commo core state stadards. Paper preseted at the Uderstadig Laguage Coferece, Staford Uiversity, CA. Retrieved from edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academic-papers/10- Satos%20LDH%20Teacher%20Developmet%20 FINAL.pdf Sauders, W., & Marcelletti, D. (2012, April). The gap that ca go away: The Catch-22 of reclassificatio i moitorig the progress of Eglish learers. Symposium paper preseted at the aual meetig of the America Educatioal Research Associatio, Vacouver, BC. Taylor, J., Stecher, B., O Day, J., Naftel, S., & Le Floch, K. C. (2010). State ad local implemetatio of the No Child Left Behid Act (Volume IX Accoutability uder NCLB: Fial Report). Washigto, DC: U.S. Departmet of Educatio. Thompso, K. (2012). Are we there yet? Explorig Eglish learers jourey to reclassificatio ad beyod. (Upublished doctoral dissertatio). Staford Uiversity, Staford, CA. Uderstadig Laguage Iitiative. (2012). Available at Valdes, G., Capitelli, S., & Alvarez, L. (2011). Latio childre learig Eglish: Steps i the jourey. New York: Teachers College Press. Va Lier, L., & Walqui, A. (2012, Jauary). Laguage ad the commo core state stadards. Paper preseted at the Uderstadig Laguage Coferece, Staford Uiversity, CA. Retrieved from academic-papers/04-va%20lier%20walqui%20 Laguage%20ad%20CCSS%20FINAL.pdf Walqui, A., & Heritage, M. (2012, Jauary). Istructio for diverse groups of Eglish laguage learers. Paper preseted at the Uderstadig Laguage Coferece, Staford Uiversity, CA. Retrieved from pdf/academic-papers/09-walqui%20heritage%20 Istructio%20for%20Diverse%20Groups%20 FINAL_0.pdf Wolf, M. K., Kao, J., Griffi, N., Herma, J., Bachma, P., Chag, S., & Farsworth, T. (2008). Issues i assessig Eglish laguage learers: Eglish laguage proficiecy measures ad accommodatio uses (Practice Review. CRESST Report No. 732). Los Ageles, CA: UCLA. Workig Group o ELL Policy. (2011, March 25). Improvig educatioal outcomes for Eglish laguage learers: Recommedatios for ESEA reauthorizatio. Palo Alto, CA: Author. Available at PolicyBrief.pdf HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS 13

14 P O L I C Y B R I E F Workig Group o ELL Policy. (2010). Improvig educatioal outcomes for Eglish laguage learers: Recommedatios for ESEA reauthorizatio. Questios ad aswers. Palo Alto, CA: Author. Available at uploads/qa.pdf 14 HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS

15 HOW NEXT-GENERATION STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS CAN FOSTER SUCCESS 15

16 School of Educatio, Staford Uiversity 520 Galvez Mall CERAS Rm. 401 Staford, CA (650) We would like to thak the Califoria Educatio Policy Fud (a sposored project of Rockefeller Philathropy Advisors), the Dirk ad Charlee Kabceell Foudatio, the James Irvie Foudatio, ad the Stuart Foudatio for fiacial support for the publicatio of this policy brief. The views expressed are those of the authors, ad do ot ecessarily reflect the views of PACE or its fuders. Recet PACE Publicatios Mary Perry. School Fiace Reform A Weighted Pupil Formula for Califoria. Report 1, May Gettig Dow to Facts: Five Years Later. May Hilary McLea. Califoria s Early Assessmet Program: Its Effectiveess ad the Obstacles to Successful Program Implemetatio. March Michal Kurlaeder, Eric Grodsky, Samuel J. Agroow, Catherie L. Hor. State Stadards, the SAT, ad Admissio to the Uiversity of Califoria. Policy Brief 11-3, November The Road Ahead for State Assessmets. Research Report, May PACE ad Reie Ceter for Educatio Research & Policy. William S. Koski ad Aaro Tag. Teacher Employmet ad Collective Bargaiig Laws i Califoria: Structurig School District Discretio over Teacher Employmet. Policy Brief 11-2, February W. Charles Wiseley. Effective Basic Skills Istructio: The Case for Cotextualized Developmetal Math. Policy Brief 11-1, Jauary Douglas N. Harris. Value-Added Measures of Educatio Performace: Clearig Away the Smoke ad Mirrors. Policy Brief 10-4, October Jeifer L. Steele, Richard J. Murae, ad Joh B. Willett. Do Fiacial Icetives Draw Promisig Teachers to Low- Performig Schools? Policy Brief 10-3, May Marti Caroy. Califoria s Impedig College Graduate Crisis ad What Needs To Be Doe About It. Policy Brief 10-2, April Reformig Educatio i Califoria: A Guide for Citizes ad Cadidates. April Charles Taylor Kercher. There s Lots to Lear from L.A.: Policy Levers for Istitutioal Chage. Policy Brief 10-1, Jauary 2010.