ELPT (ACCESS Testing Coordinator) Now-March 1
Illinois mandates services for English learners, which for Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) programs,
includes native language instruction in language arts, math, science, and social studies. For ELs eligible for
full-time TBE, district guidance recommends 80% instruction in the native language in preschool and 80-50% of
instruction in the native language for K-2 students (instruction in dual language classrooms follows a more
detailed language allocation for each grade level and content area). The language of assessment should
reflect and align to the language of instruction in order to more accurately assess content knowledge without
language proficiency being a significant barrier. When the TBE program is in Spanish, schools have a variety of
assessments available in both English and Spanish and it is important to select Spanish assessments to
determine if the students are acquiring the necessary concepts and skills. Adherence to this will provide more
accurate results on literacy assessments as the language barrier will be reduced.
Spanish Speaking English Learners Non Spanish Speaking English Learners
● Full-time Spanish TBE eligible students
receiving instruction in Spanish should be
assessed in the language of instruction
(Spanish).
● Students eligible for Part-time TBE (in general,
scoring 3.5 or higher on the literacy language
proficiency when assessed using ACCESS or
a screener or 4.0 in oral language proficiency
for Kindergarten ELs on the EL Screener*),
could be tested in both languages, depending
on the proportion of instruction in English and
Spanish.
● Only Part-time TBE eligible students, who
receive the majority of their instruction in
English, should be tested exclusively in
English.
○ Results should be interpreted with
caution as students are still
developing their English language.
● Students with the score of 3.5 or higher on
the literacy language proficiency or 4.0 in oral
language proficiency for when screened
during the first semester of Kindergarten on
the EL Screener may participate with caution.
○ Results should be interpreted with
considerations of other factors such
as English language proficiency and
program year.
○ Results for assessments in English for
ELs with lower proficiencies than
those listed above would not be
reliable (more indicative of English
proficiency than content knowledge),
so testing in English is not
recommended
*Please note\: oral language proficiency level is applicable to Kindergartners only when screened in the 1st semester*
Please note that even though the percentage of instruction in English and Spanish might shift slightly
throughout the academic year, it is crucial to assess in the same language at different times during the same
school year, so that educators can see growth and not have test scores that could reflect the different
language of assessment rather than true measure of growth.