The New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT) is designed to annually assess the English language proficiency of all English Language Learners (ELLs) enrolled in Grades K–12. The NYSESLAT is one component of the State’s compliance with federals laws that mandate annually assessing and monitoring the English Language proficiency progress of all ELLs. In the classroom, the Spring 2015 NYSESLAT results provide important information about each ELL’s English language development that help inform and drive instruction aligned to the NYS Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS), thereby ensuring that all ELLs are college and career-ready upon graduating in New York State. 

 

An ELL’s performance on the Spring 2015 NYSESLAT indicates his or her level of English language proficiency relative to the linguistic demands of the grade-level classroom. These proficiency levels indicate the type of English language support each ELL needs to participate productively in the grade-level content-area classroom. Thus, a student who scores at the highest proficiency level, Commanding on the NYSESLAT has, with minimal support, met the linguistic demands necessary to meet the discipline-specific standards and is no longer considered to be an English Language Learner.