Meeting the Needs of English Learners and Other Diverse Learners English learners


ACSA believes that ESEA should support accountability for implementation of effective programs that meet the linguistic and academic needs of English learners. We are working on this effort at the state level and applaud this focus at the federal level. We strongly support the requirement that states establish criteria to determine eligibility, placement, and duration of programs and services based on a state’s valid and reliable English language proficiency assessment. We also support the Blueprint focus on flexibility to allow states to use many types of strategies to improve the education of English learners. We support states being required to adopt and implement statewide grade-by-grade English language proficiency standards that are linked to the state’s college and career ready academic content standards. California adopted English language development standards in the late 1990s; however, they have not been linked formally to our academic content standards, so this will be an improvement to our support for English learners. We support the requirement states establish criteria to determine eligibility, placement, and duration of programs and services, based on a state’s valid and reliable English language proficiency assessment. Assessments for English learners must be designed to appropriately distinguish between linguistic and academic proficiency, and accountability for growth should be aligned to research-based timelines for attaining proficiency in English.


Students with Disabilities


ACSA believes that students with disabilities should have access to the core curriculum. High quality curricula and instructional support systems that effectively meet students’ learning needs are particularly important for students with disabilities. ACSA supports the Blueprint focus to ensure assessments accurately and appropriately measure performance of students with disabilities and those districts and schools implement high quality curricula and instructional support systems that incorporate the principles of universal design.


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