Trends in Alternate Policies For ELs with disabilities who take alternative ELP assessments—which is a relatively small number of ELs—36 states have established alternate reclassification policies, while 12 have not developed or are in the process of developing these policies (Figure 2). The remaining two states have explicit policies that do not permit those taking alternate ELP assessments to exit language services. Mirroring trends in standard policies, meeting a composite proficiency level or cut score on alternate ELP assessments is the most common criterion required for reclassification eligibility—used in 26 states (Figure 2). As another criterion, some states permit exiting when in essence a plateauing effect in ELP scores has occurred (Figure 2). For this criterion, LEAs must compare cut scores from multiple years and exit when ELs with disabilities experience limited to no gains (e.g., achieving same proficiency level on two recent consecutive test administrations). Other states require literacy composite, receptive/productive composite, or domain specific cut scores. For alternate policies, other forms of evidence are more limited but include, individualized education program (IEP) team recommendation, reading assessment scores, and other local data (Table 2). Trends in Exemption Policies While a majority of states have standardized reclassification criteria for all ELs, a few states have developed exemption policies. These policies take two forms: (1) individual exemptions and (2) population-wide exemptions. Individual exemptions permit LEAs to make a case for exiting individual dually identified students who are otherwise unable to meet the criteria established in the standard and/or alternate reclassification policies. Individual exemption policies vary, but commonly they constitute a case-by-case individualized approach to reclassification. For example, an individual exemption policy may permit teachers or teams (e.g., IEP or EL teams) conferring, evaluating additional evidence, making an exiting recommendation, and then submitting that recommendation for SEA approval. Populationwide exemptions have separate reclassification criteria for all ELs with disabilities, regardless of the ELP assessment they take. Over the past several years, population-wide exemptions have been implemented and later retracted across states. At present, only one state has an active population-wide exemption policy in place. Details of specific states’ alternate and exemption reclassification policies can be found in the interactive reclassification map (Figure 3). Promoting Equitable Reclassification of English Learners with Disabilities 5 26 2 1 6 17 Figure 2. States with Alternate ELP Score Criterion composite ELP score/level composite ELP and composite literacy scores domain scores consecutive ELP composite scores none Number of States with Individual Exemptions to Standard Policy 4 Number of States with Individual Exemptions to Alternate Policy 4
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