English Language Development Standards: Past, Present, and Future

• In Event: Bridging Policy and Practice for Multilingual Learners Through English Language Development Standards Implementation Research

Abstract

Dating back to the 1974 Lau v. Nichols ruling, U.S. schools are required to take affirmative steps to promote equal educational opportunity for students learning English. Since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a primary mechanism for ensuring this equal opportunity has been implementing standards (Kibler et al., 2014). Specifically, each U.S. state is required to adopt English language development (ELD) standards that articulate what students need to be able to do with English to access grade-level academic content. ELD standards, including standards developed by multi-state consortia (e.g., WIDA) and individual states (Arizona, California, New York, and Texas), have evolved over multiple generations of standards-based reform. However, while ELD standards have been framed as “drivers of equity” for students learning English (WIDA, 2020, p. 9), questions remain regarding whether and how the standards have been effective in ensuring equal educational opportunity for this student population.

This paper examines the past, present, and future of ELD standards in U.S. K-12 education. We begin by briefly reviewing the history of U.S. standards-based reform and theoretical perspectives on language policy implementation (e.g., Menken & García, 2010; Ricento & Hornberger, 1996). Then, we synthesize the literature on ELD standards implementation to surface the promises and challenges of ELD standards for building on the Lau legacy.

First, we synthesize the literature on the previous generation of ELD standards (past). Our synthesis reveals multiple challenges to implementation, including a lack of specificity regarding language development in the standards themselves (e.g., Author, 2020) and the marginal status of language/bilingual teachers in negotiating implementation (e.g., Morita-Mullaney, 2017).

Second, we synthesize the emerging literature on the current generation of ELD standards (present). Our synthesis points to the promises of contemporary ELD standards for overcoming challenges of their predecessors, for example, by adding specificity that reflects contemporary theories of language (e.g., functional theories based on Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014; see also Hyland, 2007; Christie & Derewianka, 2008) and aligning ELD standards with content standards to foster collaboration between language educators and their content area colleagues (e.g., Author, 2022).

Finally, we propose key issues and questions ripe for theoretical and empirical inquiry (future). These issues include (a) the “beyond standardized assessment” issue (e.g., Can ELD standards meaningfully inform teachers’ classroom practice?), (b) the “monoglossic ideologies” issues (e.g., Can ELD standards that, by virtue of their charge, focus on a named language still promote bilingualism?), and (c) the “conceptions of equity” issue (e.g., Can ELD standards preserve a commitment to equity in the face of anti-equity education legislation across states?).

Ultimately, we argue with cautious optimism that the current generation of ELD standards could build on the Lau legacy by promoting equitable access to instruction in English while also opening up implementational spaces (Hornberger, 2005) for bilingual education. This paper responds to the AERA 2025 annual meeting’s call for researchers to interrogate “how [policies] advance educational opportunity and [also] how they constrain it” (AERA, 2024, p. 2).

Authors

• Fernanda Marinho Kray, American Institutes for Research

• Chris K. Chang-Bacon, University of Virginia

• Scott Grapin, University of Miami