Accountability is overdue: Testing the academic achievement of limited English proficient students

Providing an equal education for the 3.5 million children who do not have a sufficient knowledge of the English language and to help them participate fully in mainstream classrooms is a growing challenge for U.S. public schoo ls. Education reform and accountability initiatives in several states are b eginning to include limited English proficient (LEP) students in their asse ssment efforts. Educators recognize the importance of maintaining rigorous standards and high expectations for language minority students. Legal manda tes require periodic assessments of LEP students' progress and the allocati on of additional resources where needed. Texas leads the country in bringin g about academic accountability for LEP students-through evaluating and rep orting annually on their progress in English-language literacy and in their learning of school subjects, and by documenting the steady growth in succe ssful performance on state tests by this special population.