No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation focuses attention on high expectations for all students in learning grade level academic content, and requires that disaggregated participation and performance data be reported for students with disabilities and English language learners (ELLs). Although not required by law, some states have reported data…

The results of this assessment policy review indicated that only a few states have formally considered the large-scale assessment needs of English language learners with disabilities. In fact, only one state (Texas) had a separate policy that addressed the inclusion of English language learners with disabilities in large-scale assessment programs…

Although No Child Left Behind legislation does not require states to report enrollment, participation and performance data for English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities either online or in print-based reports, there is increasing interest in the academic success of this subgroup of students, estimated at about 357,325 nationwide (Zehler,…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) made it clear that states, districts, and schools are to hold high expectations for all students and work to improve outcomes for low performing groups. A central part of these mandated improvement efforts is using data to identify groups of students who are achieving poorly on statewide tests and find…

This report analyzes information from a study that described how data on English language learners (ELLs) were reported nationwide, investigating ELLs' participation rates in and performance on state assessments. Data are reported for state reading and math tests; state writing, science, and social studies tests; and native language and other…

The central research question of this study is whether first-time scores for repeat limited-English-proficient (LEP) test-takers of Basic Standards Tests (BSTs), also known as "graduation exams," predict a passing score on the test the second time around. Three points are cautiously asserted: (1) 20% or fewer of LEP students who retook…

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act mandates that state education agencies develop and implement an assessment system that allows for disaggregation of results at state, district, and school levels by gender, race, English proficiency, and migrant status. Schools receiving Title I funds must demonstrate "adequate yearly…

The study reported here was conducted as part of a larger investigation designed to identify instructional strategies most beneficial for English language learners with disabilities. Other aspects of the investigation are examining the research literature, information from parents and students, and the effects of specific strategies. In this…

This study was conducted to examine whether using a monolingual, simplified English dictionary as an accommodation on a reading test with limited-English-proficient (LEP) Hmong students improved test performance. Hmong students were chosen because they are often not literate in their first language. For these students, bilingual dictionaries are…