WIDA Correspondence Mapping of the Match, Breadth, Consistency, and Depth of Language Opportunities in State K–12 English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Standards - WCER Working Paper No. 2023-3 - Technical paper

Oct 15, 2026

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To comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 and related U.S. Department of Education peer review guidance, state education agencies must provide evidence demonstrating clear alignment (correspondence) between their K–12 English language proficiency standards and academic content standards. This technical paper documents match, breadth, consistency (balance of representation), and depth of correspondence among WIDA member states’ academic content standards in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies and the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages136

Reading Time5 h 43 min

AccessFree to download

Policy Context

Alignment or Correspondence?

What is the Difference between the WIDA Correspondence Mapping and Individual SEA Correspondence Mappings?

WIDA Correspondence Claims

Limitations to Verb-Only Approaches to Correspondence Evaluation

Research Questions

Data Sources

Frequency of WIDA ELD Standards Framework Components

State Academic Content Standards Sources

Notes on Sources Structural Analyses

Demographics Used to Guide Selection of Standards to Analyze

WIDA Demographics

Methods

Developing Acceptability Measures for Match, Depth, and Breadth Among Standards

Additional Cross-Checks of Correspondence Match Analyses

Validity and Reliability of Study Analyses

Cautions on Unintended Interpretations

Findings

Findings Overview

Research Question 1: Degree of Match Between WIDA Consortium Member State Academic Content Standards and the WIDA Key Language Uses

Building State Academic Standard Priorities into the WIDA ELD Standards Framework

WIDA Correspondence Mapping of the Match, Breadth, Consistency, and Depth of Language Opportunities in State K–12 English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Standards WCER Working Paper No. 2023-3 August 2023 Lynn Shafer Willner Wisconsin Center for Education Research University of Wisconsin–Madison [Lynn.Willner@wisc.edu](Lynn.Willner@wisc.edu) Keywords: U.S. Department of Education Title I peer review, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), English learners, multilingual learners, K–12 English language proficiency (ELP) standards, English language development (ELD) standards, alignment, correspondence, K–12 academic content standards, WIDA Suggested citation: Shafer Willner, L. (2023). WIDA correspondence mapping of the match, breadth, consistency, and depth of language opportunities in state K–12 English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies standards (WCER Working Paper No. 2023-3). University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research. ©2023 by Lynn Shafer Willner. All rights reserved. The author would like to thank and acknowledge H. Gary Cook, Margo Gottlieb, Edynn Sato, Fabiana MacMillan, and Fernanda Marinho Kray for the insightful feedback provided during the analysis and writing of this study. Any opinions, findings, or conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies, WCER, or cooperating institutions. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for noncommercial purposes by any means, provided that the above copyright notice appears on all copies. WCER working papers are available at [https://wcer.wisc.edu/publications/working-papers](https://wcer.wisc.edu/publications/working-papers) WIDA Correspondence Mapping of the Match, Breadth, Consistency, and Depth of Language Opportunities in State K–12 English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Standards Lynn Shafer Willner Abstract To comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 and related U.S. Department of Education peer review guidance, state education agencies must provide evidence demonstrating clear alignment (technically referred to as correspondence) between their K–12 English language proficiency standards and their academic content standards. This technical paper provides evidence of match, breadth, consistency [balance of representation], and depth of correspondence between WIDA consortium member state academic content standards in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, as ofFall 2022, and the components ofthe WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition–specifically the four WIDA Key Language Uses and their grade-level cluster and content area instantiation in the WIDA Language Expectations. It also illustrates the relationship between the grade-level cluster Language Expectations and Proficiency Level 5 of the Proficiency Level Descriptors. State correspondence evidence helps ensure that K–12 students identified as English learners (referred to as multilingual learners by WIDA) have the opportunity to learn the critical elements of language that facilitate access to and achievement of academic content. Table of Contents Policy Context ..................................................................................................................................2 Alignment or Correspondence? .............................................................................................. 4 What is the Difference between the WIDA Correspondence Mapping and Individual SEA Correspondence Mappings?..................................................................................... 6 WIDA Correspondence Claims....................................................................................................... 6 Limitations to Verb-Only Approaches to Correspondence Evaluation ............................ 9 Research Q

FAQs

What correspondence evidence is required under ESSA for K–12 standards alignment?

State education agencies must provide evidence of clear alignment, technically called correspondence, between K–12 English language proficiency standards and academic content standards.

What dimensions does the paper use to describe correspondence quality?

The paper evaluates match, breadth, consistency (balance of representation), and depth of correspondence between state academic content standards and WIDA ELD framework components.

Which standards and subject areas are included in the correspondence mapping?

The mapping covers WIDA consortium member states’ academic content standards in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, as of fall 2022, alongside the WIDA ELD Standards Framework (2020 Edition).

Oct 15, 2026

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