Spring is upon us and for many districts that signals districtwide assessments! With that in mind, as well as recent questions from the field, I felt it was a natural point to share some guidance regarding assessment accommodations for English Learners (ELs).
Importantly, all English Learners are required to complete the same assessments that a particular district requires of all students. For example, if a district opts to administer the Social Studies test of Iowa Assessments, English Learners must participate as well. The one notable exception that exists for ELs addresses those who are considered 'recent arrivals'.
Recently arrived ELs are defined as English Learners' who have attended United States schools for less than 12 months. During this period (first 12 months of US schools attendance) a 'recent arrival' may be exempted from one administration of the State's reading/language arts assessment.
Below is linked the most current guidance from the Iowa Department of Education regarding EL participation in districtwide assessments. While there are dated references to the i-ELDA assessments (we now utilize the ELPA21), the guidance remains of high quality for teams to determine EL participation in districtwide assessments
Iowa Guidelines for K-12 EL Participation in Districtwide Assessments
As always, thank you to everyone for the wonderful supports and services you provide to English Learners in Iowa!
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