The above policy change, passed by the state Board of Regents in September, is something to watch. It will allow students still learning English to get extra help on state tests for two years after they pass a English as a Second Language proficiency exam.
The way English Language Learner students take tests has been a matter of dispute in the city for a while, and it comes up a lot in the Bloomberg administration’s efforts to explain why students test scores have not gone up as much as some would have hoped. Their reason: that a federal policy change led more ELL students to take tests.
By the same logic, giving accommodations to ELL students might help push test scores up.