Accommodations on Stanford 10 for Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in January 2002. Under NCLB, all students are to be included in the measurement of progress toward state achievement standards. In order to evaluate the progress made by schools toward these standards, states must disaggregate and report the performance of limited English proficient (LEP) students, as well as students with disabilities and disadvantaged students. Furthermore, states must compare the performance of these groups to the performance of the general population and report on the findings. States must also disaggregate and report the performance of LEP students within different ethnic groups. One of the critical reasons for requiring the reporting of the performance of these groups is to ensure that these students are not left behind as the nation pursues education reform (Elmore & Rothman, 1999). As explained in the Guidance on Standards, Assessments, and Accountability (USDOE, 1997), published under the previous version of ESEA, assessments under Title I must provide for: Inclusion of LEP students, who shall be assessed, to the extent practicable, in the language and form most likely to yield accurate and reliable information on what they know and can do to determine their mastery of skills in subjects other than English. (p. 2) The Guidance specifies that states may use appropriate adaptations and accommodations such as separate testing sessions for LEP students, flexible scheduling, small group administration, simplified directions, audiotaped versions, and native language glossaries