Supporting Georgia ELs with WIDA-Correlated Programs

English learners (ELs) are a growing part of the K–12 student population in the state of Georgia. According to Georgia’s Public School Report Card, during the 2016–17 school year, 5.4 percent of K–12 students enrolled in Georgia public schools were enrolled in an English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program, while 8 percent of K–12 students fell under the category of limited English proficiency (LEP).

The combination of an increasing EL population and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) accountability expectations that require all states to set goals for EL progress toward English-language proficiency feeds directly into how Georgia is defining support for this subgroup of learners today.

Understand Georgia Measurement of EL Performance and Growth

In compliance with the ESSA’s accountability regulations regarding ELs, the state of Georgia counts EL proficiency and progress as 3.5 percent in elementary and middle school and 3 percent in high school. Georgia students are screened for initial EL identification using one of the WIDA™ Consortium’s assessments. Once students are identified as ELs, they are given the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs 2.0® tests annually until they score highly enough to be reclassified as English proficient. The test is designed to measure students’ social and academic English-language proficiency, as well as the language associated with subjects like language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies within the school context. 

Georgia determines its progress toward English-language proficiency by measuring the percentage of ELs moving from one state-defined performance band to a higher performance band in grades 1–12 on the composite score of the ACCESS 2.0 assessment. The level of expected progress varies by performance band, with more progress expected at lower prior proficiency levels than at higher prior proficiency levels. Georgia’s long-term goal is for ELs to achieve English-language proficiency on the ACCESS 2.0 test within a maximum of seven years. The state has also set a goal to reduce the gap between the state’s baseline progress rates and 100 percent by 45 percent by 2031. To encourage schools and districts toward this goal, Georgia has created a targeted structure in which continuous, sustainable improvement is incentivized. 

Identify a Trusted Partner to Support Your EL Population

This increasing population of diverse learners only continues to highlight the growing need for quality educational materials that target English-language proficiency and continuous academic growth. Ensure that you have an education partner that offers high-quality programs to drive your students toward desired outcomes.

At Edmentum, we value our continued partnership with WIDA to help validate the quality of our programs and their ability to adequately fulfill the unique needs of your ELs. As one of its key initiatives, the WIDA Consortium developed the Protocol for Review of Instructional Materials™ for ELLs (PRIME) as a tool to assist educators in making informed decisions about selecting instructional materials for language-education programs.

Edmentum Exact Path, ESL ReadingSmart, and Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress have all been awarded a WIDA PRIME V2™ Correlation, following rigorous, independent reviews. By attaining a WIDA PRIME V2 Correlation, Edmentum joined a distinguished group of online learning providers who have completed the multicriteria analysis. Take a look at each of our aligned programs to discover how our solutions can help you confidently propel learning forward for your diverse EL population.

Exact Path: Academic growth for K–8th grade ELs

Edmentum’s individualized learning solution, Exact Path, supports the diverse needs of your ELs through a flexible approach to learning. Proven to drive growth for ELs, Exact Path is designed to develop students’ vocabulary and language skills and is supported with audio, models, and visual supports to help differentiate content for all targeted proficiency levels.

After completing an adaptive diagnostic assessment, each student is set on an individualized learning path to academic growth, which includes scaffolded instruction and practice aligned to Georgia standards. As an educator, the diagnostic assessment allows you to determine the exact areas where a student needs remediation, as well as where a student may be working ahead of grade level. While Exact Path provides you with big-picture and skill-by-skill data views to support real-time progress monitoring for your students, the program’s user-friendly interface and engaging activities allow students to navigate their learning paths independently and build critical language skills.

ESL ReadingSmart: English-language proficiency for 4th grade through adult ELs

ESL ReadingSmart is focused entirely on English-language proficiency, offering quality content for newcomer, beginner, intermediate, early advanced, and advanced ELs. After an initial placement test, students are directed to individual lesson paths featuring meaningful curriculum selected to help accelerate learning. Each lesson contains activities, vocabulary, and reading selections to help students build academic vocabulary and to support English-language proficiency.

By providing students with individualized learning experiences tailored to their abilities, ESL ReadingSmart gives educators the flexibility to utilize the program as a student-centered, standalone application for independent language acquisition; leverage the program in a larger whole-class, blended-learning model; or integrate it for intervention or acceleration in after-school programs.

Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress: Literacy development for Pre-K–6th grade ELs

Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress, Edmentum’s dynamic two-in-one literacy solution, supports the reading and comprehension development of your ELs with engaging activities and lessons aligned to the five essential pillars of reading —phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Content begins at an absolute emergent level and ensures that students receive extra support in phonemic awareness and phonics to close gaps in foundational reading skills before they ever have a chance to widen. Additionally, both Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress offer a placement test to help your students begin their learning journeys at the correct level of instruction.

Once students have been placed at the appropriate level, carefully guided lessons supported with instructional modeling, audio supports, and engaging animations guide students’ literacy development as they become more confident readers. Every corner of Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress is packed with rewarding and game-like features that keep students motivated and encouraged as they work through their lessons. As your ELs crack the code on reading, they not only unlock the joys of becoming life-long readers, but they also open the door to all the academic gains that come with reading proficiency.

Interested in learning more about how WIDA and Edmentum partner to help drive your ELLs to academic success and English-language proficiency? Watch our recent webinar, [WIDA + Edmentum] Partnering to Drive ELL Success.