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Virginia students with limited English proficiency could soon take annual state assessments in languages other than English under legislation that advanced from a House Education subcommittee Tuesday.
Del. Laura Jane Cohen, D-Fairfax, introduced the bill after the Virginia Board of Education changed its accountability system to include more test results from English learners. Those students have often been excluded from the calculations because of language barriers.
Virginia uses Standards of Learning assessments to measure whether schools meet state expectations for learning and proficiency. The tests cover math, reading, science, writing, history and social science.
Cohen said the legislation is intended to help the tests capture what students know rather than how well they understand English. More than 30 states offer comparable language services for state assessments, she said.
Representatives of several organizations and school divisions endorsed the proposal, including supporters from Roanoke and Fairfax County.
Tom Smith, legislative liaison for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, stressed that the issue extends beyond the Northern Virginia school divisions of Arlington and Fairfax.
Jorge Figueredo, executive director of Edu-Futuro and a member of the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, also backed the measure. Drawing on his experience as an English learner, he said reaching full language proficiency can take four to seven years.
Edu-Futuro serves more than 4,000 children, young people and adults annually in Northern Virginia. Its programs include more than 1,000 students from four public school divisions, including English learners in Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties and Alexandria.
Some speakers urged lawmakers to consider a broader overhaul of Virginia’s assessment system. Alan Seibert of Roanoke City Schools said the system has been repeatedly adjusted over the past two decades.
A companion measure from Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, is expected to take a narrower approach. Favola plans to amend her bill to cover only math and science tests offered in Spanish.
A related draft budget amendment would prioritize, in order, math tests for grades 3-5; science tests for grades 5-8; Biology; Algebra I; and Geometry. Spanish-language exams would be provided while funding remains available, with $300,000 requested for translations.
Cohen’s proposal would apply to all subjects. It would allow students with limited English proficiency to take assessments in one of Virginia’s three most commonly spoken languages other than English for as many as two consecutive years.
Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield, suggested starting with a single subject such as math so officials could determine whether translated testing provides clearer information about students’ subject knowledge and academic growth.
Coyner also recommended targeting students with lower scores on WIDA’s English-language proficiency assessment to avoid testing some students twice. She said lawmakers should specify who would select the languages used for translated exams.
The bill now heads to the full House Education Committee, with a referral to the House Appropriations Committee expected if it continues advancing.