Washington, D.C. (October 21, 2019) - The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) announced its participation today in a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop and improve ways to measure the progress of English learners.
Led by the Mississippi Department of Education, the four-year project will evaluate English language progress models among seven participating states. The states are Arizona, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin. Afterward, the improved methods will be shared with researchers and educators nationwide.
“CCSSO is excited about the promise of this work to improve outcomes for English learners. Nearly 10 percent of the U.S. K-12 population -- approximately 5 million students -- are identified as English learners. As we seek to serve these students, the work of this project will be critical. CCSSO is proud to partner with states in this area as we are committed to ensuring equitable education opportunities for every student,” said Carissa Moffat Miller, CCSSO’s executive director.
“We are proud to lead this national effort that will improve the way states measure the academic progress of students who are learning to read, write, and speak English,” said Dr. Carey Wright, Mississippi state superintendent of education. “The population of English learners is growing in Mississippi and the nation, and this project will support states in their work to advance student learning.”
CCSSO is the intended project management partner. CCSSO will work on the effort with other partner organizations that include the California State University Northridge, the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at the University of California Los Angeles, and Com-Link, LLC.
The states and the research team will address four goals:
- Help states effectively measure English learner growth toward English language proficiency.
- Help states understand the relationship between English learner progress and English learner program implementation.
- Support participating states in improving their own growth models and using English language proficiency assessment data to inform school improvement efforts.
- Inform the field’s understanding of effective measures of growth toward English language proficiency and provide resources that states can customize and use.
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The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, Bureau of Indian Education, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues. The Council seeks member consensus on major educational issues and expresses their views to civic and professional organizations, federal agencies, Congress, and the public.
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