NAELPA Summer 2020 Newsletter 2020 edition | Page 9

Standards & Assessment Committee Report

The Standards and Assessment Committee is working toward implementing systems that will support the vision of functioning as a committee of the whole. The NAELPA Board has approved this type of function as all members may have an interest or expertise to move the membership forward in understanding and acting upon very complex topics. It is expected that there will soon be an operational system to support both mail list communication and an online location where discussions, source materials, and other items can be shared and archived for later access.

As an example of the kinds of topics that will be shared, the issue most on the minds of the state Title III directors has been the Peer Review of English Language Proficiency assessments, undertaken by the USED for the first time. Results of the federal review of the state, and in some cases consortium, supplied evidence have been posted (you can access them by clicking this link). State education agencies and consortia are now responding to the findings in the reviews and preparing and submitting further evidence that the USED reviewers have identified as needed.

Support for ELs

Committee Report

NAELPA is one of the newest members of the National EL Roundtable (NELRT), a group of EL organizations and advocates who meet quarterly to discuss EL related topics, determine ways the organizations can collaborate to meet EL needs, share resources and discuss ideas and questions with the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA). Immediate Past-president, Ivanna Mann Thrower Anderson, from North Carolina, represents NAELPA at the NELRT meetings, which are typically hosted by member organizations in Washington, DC.

NAELPA was present at the August 19, 2019, and January 13, 2020, and June 2, 2020, meetings and is excited to continue to collaborate with peer organizations advocating for ELs.

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