What is it about?

English learners – children learning English as a second language – make up the fastest growing subset of the U.S. student population. The misalignment between proficiency standards and content standards in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies for English learners creates barriers for their academic success. Recognition of these barriers presents the opportunity for collaboration between language and content educators to align proficiency standards with content standards to ensure English learners have equal opportunity to achieve academically.

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Why is it important?

English learners in U.S. public schools are being held back from academic achievement because of the misalignment between proficiency standards and content standards. Okhee Lee is the first to call for education scholars to come to the table and create a consensus to align proficiency standards with content standards for English learners. The results of their efforts will enable education policymakers to develop a coherent set of proficiency standards for English learners that meet mandates set forth in the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015.

Perspectives

It is my hope that education policymakers will establish common proficiency standards that will serve to uplift English learners and prepare them for academic success.

Okhee Lee
New York University

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This page is a summary of: Aligning English Language Proficiency Standards With Content Standards: Shared Opportunity and Responsibility Across English Learner Education and Content Areas, Educational Researcher, October 2019, American Educational Research Association (AERA),
DOI: 10.3102/0013189x19872497.
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