COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 218

October 5, 2007

INFORMATIONAL

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Billy K. Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	2008-2009 State-Approved English Language Proficiency Assessment for Limited English Proficient Students

As required in Section 1111 (b) (7) of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), school divisions must annually assess the English language proficiency of limited English proficient (LEP) students in kindergarten through grade 12. On September 26, 2007, the Virginia Board of Education selected the Access for English Language Learners (Access) as the state-approved English language proficiency (ELP) assessment for the 2008-2009 school year. Access was developed by World-class Instructional Design and Assessments (WIDA) Consortium. For 2008-2009, payment for Access will be the responsibility of school divisions.

According to Informational Superintendents Memorandum, No. 169, dated August 17, 2007, for 2007-2008, school divisions may choose an ELP assessment that has been previously approved by the Virginia Board of Education or submit a locally developed or selected assessment aligned to Virginias ELP Standards of Learning (SOL). Access will be added to the list of board-approved assessments which includes the IDEA Language Proficiency Test (IPT) 2004 and the Virginia version of the Stanford English Language Proficiency (SELP) Test. Payment for the ELP assessment will be the responsibility of school divisions.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact the office of Test Administration, Scoring, and Reporting by e-mail at Student_Assessment@doe.virginia.gov or by telephone at (804) 225-2107.

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