State Report Card:
Curriculum and Instruction

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English Language Learners (ELLs)

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English Language Learners
WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT

These graphs are similar to Learning and Achievement: Assessments. They depict the assessment scores on the NECAP tests for elementary schools and middle schools and the 2006-07 NSREs and the 2006-07 Rhode Island Alternate Assessment for high schools. But these bar graphs show the results only for English Language Learners, that is, for students enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual-education programs or who have matriculated out of those programs within the past two school years (monitored students).

The 100-point scale represents 100% of the English Language Learners who participated in the state assessments. For the elementary schools and the middle schools, the section of each bar above the dividing line shows the percentage of all English Language Learners who achieved proficiency. For the high schools, the numbers in the box below each bar show the percentage of all English Language Learners who achieved the standard as well as the percentage of all students statewide who did so.

WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR

You are hoping to see that all English Language Learners met or exceeded the state standard for proficiency and are represented only in the top two bands. If the proficiency level (percent proficient) of English Language Learners falls significantly below the statewide proficiency level, an “equity gap” exists for English Language Learners. These gaps must be closed.

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Characteristics of English Language Learners in Rhode Island
WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT

The two pie charts on page 2 present information about the characteristics of English Language Learners in Rhode Island. English Language Learners include students in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, students in bilingual programs, and students who have left these programs within the past two years. The students who have left the programs within the past two years are still being monitored as well as tested for proficiency in English.

The first chart shows what percentage of the English Language Learner population is enrolled in bilingual-education programs and what percentage is enrolled in ESL programs. The second chart shows the ethnicity of English Language Learners in Rhode Island.

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Native Language of of English Language Learners
WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT

The table on page 2 shows the native language of English Language Learners in Rhode Island. Though Rhode Island students speak a total of 75 different languages, only those languages spoken by 20 or more students are included in this table. You will note that some languages indicate “unspecified.” This means that though those recording the information were aware of the broader language category for the student, they were unsure of the specific dialect or region for the student’s native language.

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Proficiency by the Number of Years in ELL Program or Monitored
WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT

In addition to administering the state assessments to all eligible students, RIDE administers another assessment, the ACCESS for ELLs, to all English Language Learners. This test measures the proficiency that nonnative speakers have attained in the English language.

The table on page 3 shows the results of the ACCESS for ELLs administered in 2006-07 to all English Language Learners. These tests are administered at all grade levels, to all students in ESL or bilingual programs and to monitored students (those who left the programs within the past two years).

The results show the percent proficient on the ACCESS for ELLs, by district and for the state as a whole. The table also shows the percent proficient on the ACCESS for ELLs broken down by the number of years since the student entered an ESL or bilingual-education program. (After two years out of the program, monitored students no longer take the test.)

In the right-hand column, the table shows the total number of English Language Learners in the state as a whole and in each district.

WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR

First of all, you would like to see that a high percentage of students in all districts attain proficiency on ACCESS for ELLs assessment.

A relatively low level of proficiency for students just entering ESL or bilingual-education programs is to be expected. Students enter these programs because they are nonnative speakers of English. But you would like to see a high level of proficiency in years 3 and 4, when students may have gone through a year or two of ESL or bilingual education and a year or two of monitoring. Proficiency levels may fall off during years 5 and 6. Students in ESL or bilingual programs for so many years may be students with multiple educational challenges or the districts may be offering programs that are not addressing the complex process of learning the English language.

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