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As EL populations expand nationally, reliable, evidence-based identification and support for English language proficiency become urgent for both experienced and unfamiliar school systems. The article reviews decentralized identification and reclassification practices and proposes a new EL definition to resolve current inconsistencies and include EL students often excluded by state-level criteria.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/fifty-definitions-of-english-learner-a-proposed-solution-to-inconsistent-state-by-state-systems-in-the-united-states-for-classifying-students-who-speak-english-as-a-second-language/602083/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/fifty-definitions-of-english-learner-a-proposed-solution-to-inconsistent-state-by-state-systems-in-the-united-states-for-classifying-students-who-speak-english-as-a-second-language/602083.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"acoobca","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How does the definition of English Learner vary in the United States?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The term “English Learner (EL)” is defined differently across states, and states also differ in how they assess English proficiency and how long the label remains applied to students.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why do the authors argue that a standardized national definition is urgent?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Because EL populations are growing, inconsistent identification and classification can lead to unfair or inadequate support; standardization would help students encounter consistent standards when moving between states.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What solution does the article propose?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"After reviewing current decentralized EL identification, classification, and reclassification, the article proposes a new EL definition that resolves longstanding state-level inconsistencies and better reflects the breadth and diversity of EL students.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},602083,1792433137,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":46},3985747870733,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Educational Considerations  \n\n| Volume 48  Number 1 | Article 5 |\n| --- | --- |\n| March 2022\u003Cbr>Fifty Definitions of English Learner: A Proposed Solution to Inconsistent State-by-State Systems in the United States for Classifying Students Who Speak English as a Second Language\u003Cbr>Rolf Straubhaar\u003Cbr>Texas State University-San Marcos, [straubhaar@txstate.edu](straubhaar@txstate.edu)\u003Cbr>Pedro R. Portes\u003Cbr>University of Georgia, [portes@uga.edu](portes@uga.edu)\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations)\u003Cbr> Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, and the Language and Literacy Education Commons\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nStraubhaar, Rolf and Portes, Pedro R. (2022) \"Fifty Definitions of English Learner: A Proposed Solution to Inconsistent State-by-State Systems in the United States for Classifying Students Who Speak English as a Second Language,\" Educational Considerations: Vol. 48: No. 1. [https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2328](https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2328)  \n[This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in](This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in)[ ](This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in)[Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information](Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information), please [contact](contact cads@k-state.edu)[ cads@k-state.edu](contact cads@k-state.edu).  \nFifty Definitions of English Learner: A Proposed Solution to Inconsistent State-by-State Systems in the United States for Classifying Students Who Speak English as a Second  \nLanguage  \nRolf Straubhaar and Pedro R. Portes  \nAbstract: Although nearly one in 10 U.S. students is an English Learner (or EL), the definition  \nof the term EL varies considerably from state to state, as does the means of assessing English  \nlanguage proficiency and the period of time for which the label is applied to individual students.  \nAs EL populations are growing throughout the U.S., both in school systems familiar with  \nteaching ELs and in systems that do not have such experience, it is urgent that the methods by  \nwhich this population is identified and by which its needs are met in acquiring English language  \nproficiency are backed up by evidence and, ideally, standardized at the national level. In this  \narticle, after reviewing the current decentralized climate of EL identification, classification and  \nreclassification, we propose a new definition of English Learner that both resolves  \ninconsistencies in current state-level practices and would include many practicing ELs who are  \noften excluded from current state-level definitions.  \nKey words: English learner, education policy, student assessment  \nAccording to the National Center for Education Statistics, students whose first language is not  \nEnglish, or those who are typically classified as English Language Learners (ELLs) or English  \nLearners (ELs), represent 9.1 percent of the U.S. student population (National Center for  \nEducation Statistics, 2014) . 77.2 percent of those ELLs are Spanish speakers, predominantly  \nfrom Latin America (National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, 2010) .  \nHowever, despite the fact that nearly one in 10 U.S. students is an EL, how the term EL is  \ndefined, how ELs are assessed for English language proficiency, and how long the term EL  \napplies to a particular student, is still open to considerable interpretation with defin","cbCaicEsLzVkZgKi","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicEsLzVkZgKi","pdf",229343,"English","# Fifty Definitions of English Learner\n## Governmental Efforts to Identify, Classify, and Reclassify ELs\n### Federal Efforts","[{\"question\":\"How does the definition of English Learner vary in the United States?\",\"answer\":\"The term “English Learner (EL)” is defined differently across states, and states also differ in how they assess English proficiency and how long the label remains applied to students.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do the authors argue that a standardized national definition is urgent?\",\"answer\":\"Because EL populations are growing, inconsistent identification and classification can lead to unfair or inadequate support; standardization would help students encounter consistent standards when moving between states.\"},{\"question\":\"What solution does the article propose?\",\"answer\":\"After reviewing current decentralized EL identification, classification, and reclassification, the article proposes a new EL definition that resolves longstanding state-level inconsistencies and better reflects the breadth and diversity of EL students.\"}]","Fifty Definitions of English Learner - A Proposed Solution to Inconsistent State-by-State Systems in the United States for Classifying Students Who Speak English as a Second Language | PDF",1792093997]