States

New York State Will Revamp ELL Test for ‘Common Core’

By Mary Ann Zehr — June 13, 2011 1 min read
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New York State has decided to revamp its existing English-language-proficiency test, used only in that state, to align with the states’ academic common-core standards for the 2012-13 school year. The name of the test is the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test.

Unlike some other big states with large numbers of ELLs, such as Arizona, California, Florida, and New Mexico, New York did not join one of the two consortia that applied for federal funding to create new English-language-proficiency tests for the common-core standards. Texas also didn’t join a consortium, but that’s not a surprise because Texas is one of the six states that hasn’t adopted the standards.

California has joined with 17 other states and Wisconsin has joined with 26 plus the District of Columbia to apply for $10.7 million in funds to create a new generation of English-language-proficiency tests.

“It is in the best interest of New York State students to move forward without joining a consortium,” Jane Briggs, a spokeswoman for the New York State Education Department, wrote to me in an email.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Learning the Language blog.