ESL Standards

Revised English as a Second Language Standards Now Available
The New Jersey Department of Education has established English language proficiency standards for students. The standards, called the New Jersey English Language Proficiency Standards for English as a Second Language Students, were revised over the past year by the Department of Education’s Bureau of Bilingual / ESL Education. To review the new standards on the internet, use the following link:
www.nj.gov/njded/bilingual/resources/elp.pdf
New standards for English language proficiency were needed to conform with changes in New Jersey’s Language Arts Literacy Standards and to respond to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which states that ESL students must meet the same challenging academic standards as all students were required to meet. The new standards are revisions to standards originally adopted in 1999. In addition to conforming to requirements in the state’s academic standards and the federal law, the new English language proficiency standards reflect competencies described in the ESL Standards for pre-K-12 Students, developed by the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), a national professional organization.
Curriculum writers and teachers may use the New Jersey English Language Proficiency Standards to identify curriculum objectives and to provide practice, follow-up and assessment activities that will lead English language learners to develop native-like levels of English proficiency, thereby developing the abilities that will help students become literate English proficient adults.