Including Recently Arrived English Learners in State Accountability Systems: An Empirical Illustration of Models

WCER Working Paper No. 2017-1

H. Gary Cook, Narek Sahakyan, and Robert Linquanti

hcook@wisc.edu

March 2017, 27 pp.

ABSTRACT: The authors develop model analyses based on a U.S. Department of Education guide to illustrate procedures a State could use to compare and contrast school-level overall and English Learner accountability determinations for proficiency in reading/language arts under the options allowed by the Every Student Succeeds Act. As a technical reference, the appendix provides detailed tables and statistical programming code used to compute modelled outcomes under the different accountability options. These model analyses are provided only to illustrate how a State could undertake them as part of its efforts to develop and explore a theory of action for assessment of recently arrived English learners.

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keywords: recently arrived English learners, state accountability systems, ELs, language, proficiency, code, WIDA, analysis, reading language arts, assessment