College Board Puts Spotlight on Needs of ELLs, New Kinds of Tests

From http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2012/10/college_board_puts_needs_of_el.html

College Board Puts Spotlight on Needs of ELLs, New Kinds of Tests
By Catherine Gewertz
October 24, 2012

The annual meeting of the College Board got off to an unusual start: with a high-profile session on English-learners' "right to rigor," moderated by none other than the organization's brand-new president, David Coleman.

The session, a panel discussion by three nationally known ELL experts, sent a bevy of potent signals to the field about the organization's priorities as new leadership takes hold. Not only do these priorities come straight from the top—as symbolized by Coleman's presence on the dais—but they feature a big shift in thinking about how to teach students who are learning English.

Coleman, widely known as the chief architect of the common standards in English/language arts, made it clear that the central place of "complex text" in those standards extends to English-learners. As many teachers already know—but too many still don't embody in their teaching—students learning English can be robbed of opportunities to grow when they are given watered-down texts in response to their still-developing English-language skills.

Read the full article at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2012/10/college_board_puts_needs_of_el.html