Indiana Becomes 36th State to Join WIDA Consortium

September 24, 2014

The WIDA Consortium is now 36 states strong after the Indiana Department of Education moved to implement WIDA’s English Language Development Standards and Assessments statewide starting this school year.

“WIDA is proud to announce that Indiana is the newest full member state in the WIDA Consortium. Full members have not only adopted the WIDA English Language Standards as their state standards, but also participate in annual administration of ACCESS for ELLs assessments of English language proficiency supported by professional learning for educators,” said Jesse Markow, WIDA’s Director of Strategy and Business Development.

In June, education officials in Florida also moved to adopt the WIDA Standards as the state’s English language proficiency standards. Florida has the third-largest total of English language learners amongst all states with approximately 300,000 ELLs in its K–12 student population.

“The Consortium now includes 36 full members, plus two states that have adopted the WIDA Standards – Idaho and Florida – and one state education agency that has adopted the WIDA Spanish Language Standards – Puerto Rico,” Markow said.

Indiana joining the WIDA Consortium adds approximately 56,000 additional learners to the WIDA Consortium, meaning WIDA’s standards are used to help develop the English language proficiency of more than 1.7 million students this year.