Standardized testing that seeks to measure students' English language proficiency has improved significantly nationwide since 2001, when Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act, according to a UC Davis report released today. Such testing plays a critical role in the academic success of the nation's estimated 5 million English language learners.

"We have made excellent progress. We are in much better shape than we were six years ago," said Jamal Abedi, professor of education at the University of California, Davis, and editor of the report. "This is important because one of the greatest influences on English language learners' academic careers, when instructed and assessed in English, is their level of English proficiency. Assessments based on questionable measures may cause grave consequences for the classification, placement and instruction of the fastest-growing student population in the United States."

The No Child Left Behind Act mandated reliable, valid annual assessments of students' English proficiency. In response, the U.S. Department of Education awarded grants to four consortia of states in 2002, and directed each to create and field-test a state-of-the-art assessment.

Abedi's 196-page report is the first to summarize the progress of the four efforts and to report on the current testing landscape nationwide. The full report, "English Language Proficiency Assessment in the Nation: Current Status and Future Practice," is available at http://education.ucdavis.edu/research/ELP_Assessment.html.

According to the report, 25 states are now using one of the four consortium tests. Before 2001, more than 60 tests were in use around the country; the validity and academic content coverage of many of them has not been established.

The report found that there are still some technical issues to be resolved in English-proficiency testing. Even so, unlike many of the pre-2001 tests, the newly developed tests:

• assess academic English as well as everyday English;
• are aligned with individual states' English language proficiency academic standards;
• cover kindergarten through 12th grade, rather than focusing on a particular grade or age level;
• allow grade-to-grade comparisons as well as measurement of a range of proficiency levels within the same grade;
• assess speaking and listening, and not just written English;
• cannot be acquired independently by students or parents seeking an edge in high-stakes testing situations; and
• have proved valid and reliable through vigorous field testing: the tests accurately measure students' English proficiency, and test results closely correlate with students' performance in the classroom.

Assessment directors of all 50 states contributed information to the report; consortium representatives and other English language proficiency assessment experts contributed chapters.

One chapter is devoted solely to a discussion of the California English Language Development Test used since 2001 in California, which is home to more English learners than any other state. California's test was first drafted by a statewide panel of educators and testing experts in 1999 and 2000. A team of California Department of Education staff and outside technical consultants updated the test in 2003 to meet No Child Left Behind requirements. The California English Language Development Test is used only in California.

The UC Davis report does not discuss the quality of the California test or any of the other newly developed tests, which have not been in use long enough to allow such judgments.

Abedi, one of the country's leading experts on standardized testing of English learners, ends the report with a chapter in which he recommends next steps. Among them:

• Ensure all tests are tailored to the curriculum standards of each state that uses the test.
• Conduct research to ensure tests fairly assess all English learner subgroups.
• Use assessment results to help make informed decisions about English learner participation in standardized testing designed for native English speakers, since these tests may not be valid for students with lower levels of English proficiency.
• Ongoing review and field testing of the new assessments to ensure their quality.

The four consortia are:

• World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment Consortium, http://www.wida.us/
• State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards for Limited English Proficient Students, http://www.ccsso.org/projects/SCASS/
• Pennsylvania Enhanced Assessment Grant, http://www.accountabilityworks.org
• Mountain West Assessment Consortium, http://www.measuredprogress.org/assessments/clients/MountainWest/MountainWest.html

The U.S. Department of Education provided funding for research support and printing costs.