State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell has released the annual assessment results of the revised 2006-07 California English Language Development Test taken by more than 1.3 million English learners in kindergarten through grade 12.
Preliminary results for 2006-07 show that 32 percent of English learners in California’s public schools scored at the Early Advanced or Advanced performance level overall on the CELDT. The number of English learners participating in the CELDT annual assessment has decreased by 1 percent each year for the past three years.
“Since the CELDT was implemented six years ago, we have continued to improve this test for English learners with questions that are more closely aligned to our English Language Development standards and reflect the rigor of those standards,” O’Connell said. “Our goal is to better prepare all students with strong communication skills in English so they can effectively participate in school and successfully compete in the workforce.”
Because the 2006-07 CELDT results are based on a different scale, direct comparisons to the 2005-06 CELDT results cannot be made. In March 2006, the State Board of Education approved new performance-level cut scores based on the SPI’s recommendation that resulted from a standard-setting committee comprised of 97 participants, including teachers, administrators and other educational professionals from throughout California.
These new cut scores are more in line with what students should be able to do to be considered proficient and to be successful in instruction without receiving English Language Development services. The original cut scores for performance levels were set by SBE in 2001. Since that time, there have been significant changes in the test, including the development of all new test questions aligned to California’s ELD Standards, and a redesign of reading, writing, and other areas of the test, which necessitated the revision in the cut scores for performance levels and the creation of a new common scale.
For purposes of a one-year comparison, the test contractor was able to provide data that allows for the aggregate statewide comparison of the 2006-07 results to the 2005-06 results on the new common scale.
Because the CELDT now more accurately reflects what students should be able to do in order to be considered fluent, fewer students overall have met the benchmark of advanced or early advanced when compared to the non-converted scores from 2005-06.
“When comparing the 2006-07 results with the converted 2005-06 results, we continue to see a slight increase in the percentage of English learners who are scoring at the top performance levels,” O’Connell said. “I commend our schools for their continuing efforts to help English learners become proficient in English.”
The CELDT is one of four criteria for determining whether or not students should be reclassified to fluent English proficient. Other criteria include performance on the California Standards Test in English-language arts, teacher evaluation, and parent opinion and consultation. Each school district establishes its own local reclassification procedures using these four criteria.
To satisfy the CELDT criterion, a student must meet the CELDT definition of proficiency, which is an overall scale score of Early Advanced or Advanced, plus a score of Intermediate or above for each of the skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Results for the 2006-07 CELDT show that 29.1 percent of English learners met the CELDT criterion for possible reclassification.
Nearly 145,000 English learners enrolled in California schools in 2006-07 were reclassified to fluent English proficient by March 1, 2007. The percentage reclassified to fluent English proficient generally has increased since the first administration of CELDT in 2001-02. This reclassification information is compiled annually from data submitted to the California Department of Education by local school districts.
“I encourage teachers and administrators to continuously and carefully evaluate their procedures for reclassifying English learners to ensure that students are appropriately challenged and appropriately served,” O’Connell said. “Although the percentage of English learners achieving at the higher levels of CELDT is increasing, there still is a significant gap in academic achievement between our students learning English and their native English-speaking peers. If our state is to maintain a competitive edge in the global economy, we all must join forces to address this achievement crisis with everything we have.
“We have a moral obligation to prepare all students for their roles as contributing members of society. Preparing students to be fluent in English as quickly as we can is a critical element in meeting our obligation.”
The CELDT annually assesses listening and speaking skills of English learners in kindergarten and first grade, and listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in grades 2 through 12.
Compared to the rest of the nation, California has the greatest number of students whose primary language is not English. These students also represent the greatest number of different languages.
School, school district, county and state results of the 2006-07 CELDT annual assessment are available on the CDE DataQuest Web site at the CELDT reporting site at http://celdt.cde.ca.gov.