Standards-WIDA+English+or+Spanish+Language+Arts,+TESOL+and+IL+ELPS

WIDA [|WIDA Standards] [|WIDA Consortium] The World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) standards were developed by the WIDA Consortium, a group that collectively and cooperatively working together to provide a baseline objective to create appropriate assessments for English Language Learners (ELLs) in compliance with the No Child Left behind Act. WIDA standards are currently being used in twenty-three states including Illinois. The standards are broken down by subjects and grades.

The WIDA standards consist of English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards that were designed to help educators determine children’s ELP levels and how to challenge the students to reach higher goals.

The WIDA standards consist of Spanish Language Arts Standards that are similar to the Illinois State Standards but they contain a snapshot of what students should be able to attain in the Spanish language arts. The WIDA standards also consist of CAN DO Descriptors that provide teachers or administrators unfamiliar with the ELP standards, a starting point for working with ELLs and a collaborative tool for planning instruction and assessments.

TESOL [|TESOL Standards] The Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL) provides resources for the English language educators’ community globally. TESOL develops and maintains professional expertise in English language teaching and learning for speakers of other languages worldwide. TESOL values respect for diversity and multiculturalism and embraces a community of like minded people.

TESOL was created out of professional concern over the lack of a single, all-inclusive professional organization that might bring together teachers and administrators at all educational levels with an interest in teaching English to speakers of other languages. TESOL provides educational academies, professional leadership development, and symposiums in an effort to provide resources.

TESOL participates or helps organize a variety of community outreach programs and provides links to those programs. TESOL Journal’s mission is to provide an electronic forum for second and foreign language educators at all levels to engage with the ways that research and theorizing can inform, shape, and ground teaching practices and perspectives. TESOL also provides written position statements on emerging issues in the field.

IL ELPS [|English Language Proficiency Standards] The Illinois English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards reflect the social and academic dimensions of acquiring a second language that are expected of English language learners in grade levels K-12 attending schools in the United States. ELPs are divided into four level clusters: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12. The standard encompasses four large domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening: The language proficiency that encompasses how students process, and understand spoken language. Speaking: This domain engages in communication in a variety of situations. Reading: This domain encompasses how students process interpret, and evaluate written language. Writing: This domain encompasses how students engage in written communication in a variety of forms.

The language proficiency levels range from entering, beginning, developing, expanding, and bridging. Entering: Pictorial or graphic representation. Beginning: Phrases or short sentences. Developing: Expanded sentences in oral interaction or written paragraphs. Expanding: Variety of sentence lengths of varying linguistic complexity. Bridging: Linguistic complexity extended to include essays and reports.

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