Hyatt Regency, Congressional A Room
400 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

Panelists
Kenji Hakuta, Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Stanford University
Angelica Infante, Chief Executive Officer, Office of English Language Learners,
New York City Department of Education
Carrie Heath Phillips, Program Director, Common Core State Standards Implementation,
Council of Chief State School Officers
Susan Pimentel, Education Analyst and Standards and Curriculum Specialist
Delia Pompa, Senior Vice President of Programs, National Council of La Raza
Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education

The Alliance for Excellent Education held a briefing focused on how the transition to Common Core State Standards and Next-Generation Science Standards presents both opportunities and challenges for the growing number of English language learners.

A number of initiatives are underway to help English learners access grade-level content while building their language proficiency. Stanford University launched a two-year initiative—Understanding Language—to look at the language demands contained in the new standards. The Council of Chief State School Officers recently developed the Framework for English Language Proficiency Development Standards to help states understand the sophisticated language competencies English language learners will need to perform in an academic area.

Kenji Hakuta, cochair of the Understanding Language initiative; and Susan Pimentel and Carrie Heath Phillips, developers of the Framework for English Language Proficiency Development Standards, spoke about these efforts and their respective activities and accomplishments. They were joined by Delia Pompa from the National Council of La Raza and Angelica Infante from the New York Department of Education to discuss state and district actions needed to support English learners’ language and content learning. Bob Wise, president of the Alliance and former governor of West Virginia, moderated the briefing.

Supplemental Material

• Supporting English Language Learners: A Pocket Guide for State and District Leaders (PDF)
• Key Principles for ELL Instruction (PDF)
• The Role of Language and Literacy in College- and Career-Ready Standards: Rethinking Policy and Practice in Support of English Language Learners (PDF)
• Raising the Bar: Implementing Common Core State Standards for Latino Student Success (PDF)

This briefing is made possible with support from