Print Page

Change officially announced on February 20, 2004

Key Letter Announcing the Change Can Be Found in the Following:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/secletter/040220.html
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/02/02192004.html

Interprets NCLB Section 9101 (25); section 1111(b)(3)(C)(x & xi); section 1111(b)(7)

What NCLB says:
•
 Students new to the United States who are not proficient in English were required to take the NCLB reading assessment tests in English, even though they had a lack of schooling or possessed language barriers. In addition, LEP students are required to take an English language proficient assessment to determine their progress in English proficiency.
•
 States may test in a student’s native language the first year of testing, but because some states have students that represent many different languages, it is virtually possible for them to test in each student’s native language.
•
 LEP, as a demographic subgroup, changes as a student gains language proficieny. As a result, students that gain proficiency leave the suibgroup, and new student without proficiency enter. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to demonstrate academic progress.
The Changes:
•
 LEP students, during their first of enrollment in U.S. schools, may be allowed to have the option of taking the reading/language arts content assessment in addition to taking the English language proficient assessment.
•
 This change does not extend to the mathematics assessment, which must be administered as before, with accommodations as appropriate.
•
 For AYP calculations, states may, but are not required, retain LEP students who have attained English proficiency in the LEP subgroup for up to two years.
•
 The one year option pertains ONLY to those LEP students newly arrived in the United States, and NOT newly arrived in a school districtr if they have been in the US more than one year.
 
How It Was Before the Rules Change:
•
 Without the 1 year option, LEP students newly arrived in the United States were required to take the NCLB assessments in English, despite language barriers, and allowing the school an opportunity to build English language proficient. The one year option now provides a more reasonable measure of academic performance, not hindered by language barriers, but based on what the student is able to read and understand on the assessment.
•
 Before the law allowed states to retain LEP students who gained proficiency in English for an additional two years, if was almost impossible for school districts to show academic progress, and therefore the LEP subgroup often did not meet expectations and the school was identified as “needing improvement.” Under the changes, the school and district receives credit for the academic as well as the English proficient progress of the student.