Fully Accounting for English Learner Performance: A Key Issue in ESEA Reauthorization

This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by the American Educational Research Association and published by Sage Publications Inc. It can be found at: http://edr.sagepub.com/.This article presents a set of recommendations that promote a more nuanced, meaningful accountability policy for English learners in the next authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The authors argue that the ESEA reauthorization must strengthen the law's capacity-building purpose so that federal, state, and local leaders support continued attention, direction, and innovation in effectively educating ELs. The recommendations put forth in this article focus on monitoring both current and former ELs, establishing time frames for the attainment of English language proficiency, and setting expectations for academic achievement that are reflective of English language proficiency level and time in the state's school system