Most research conducted on the amount of time English language learners (ELLs) require for the acquisition of academic English suggests that 4-10 years are required to be near or on par with fully proficient English (FEP) peers. In this study, data from three administrations (1999, 2000, and 2001) of the FCAT writing test of the Florida Writing Assessment Program were examined. The scores of over one million FEP students were compared with over 178,000 ELLs with varying exposure to academic language. Among other findings, the data suggest that ELLs required 3-5 years at the 4th grade level and 5-6+ years at the 8th and 10th grade levels to achieve parity in academic language as represented by the FCAT writing test. This finding was consistent across three genres of writing and all three administrations of the FCAT writing test under study. These findings are generally within the 4-10 year time frame suggested in previous research. The results of this study suggest that 4th grade ELLs have less to catch up than their older ELL peers. (Contains 38 references.) (Author/SM)