NJ Home | Services A to Z | Departments/Agencies | FAQs
Search: All of NJ NJ DOE

Baseline Data
New Jersey English Language Learners
2002-2003 School Year

• Printable Version (791 kb PDF )
• LEP Progress/Exit Report, 2004 (357 kb PDF )

On September 1, 2003, the New Jersey Department of Education reported to the United States Department of Education on English proficiency levels of more than 56,000 English language learners in the state of New Jersey. The information was provided in order to comply with the provisions of No Child Left Behind, which requires states to establish annual measurable achievement objectives for the acquisition of English skills. This report provides the New Jersey Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives, a summary of the New Jersey baseline data on the English language proficiency of English language learners, an example of how a district might compare data from its district against the baseline data, and a prototype of the data collection instrument that will be used in the spring of 2004. Links to each of these sections of the report are provided below:

• Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives
• New Jersey Baseline Data 2002-2003
• Comparing your district data to statewide data
• Data Collection 2003-2004

Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives

Title III of No Child Left Behind requires states to establish two annual measurable achievement objectives that define expectations for English language growth for each year students receive instruction in a language assistance program. These objectives were determined after review of existing data on New Jersey students and discussion with teachers and administrators. The first objective is to show "annual increases in the number or percentage of children making progress in learning English." In New Jersey, this objective is defined as follows:

In 2013-2014, 100% of all LEP students will increase one level of English language proficiency after each year of English language instruction.

The second objective is to show "annual increases in the number or percentage of children attaining English proficiency by the end of each school year. . . ". In New Jersey, this objective is defined separately for those in grades K to 4 and Grades 5 to 12. The separate objectives are as follows:

Grades K-4: In 2013-2014, 100% of all LEP students will achieve English language proficiency and exit the program in four full years or less.

Grades 5-12: In 2013-2014, 100% of all LEP students will achieve English language proficiency and exit the program in five full years or less or meet New Jersey high school graduation requirements.

Separate exit objectives for older students have been defined because experienced teachers and research data suggest that acquisition of English proficiency requires a longer time for older students than younger ones.

Although the objectives set a goal of 100% by 2013-2014, targets by year start at 50% and increase annually. At the end of the 2003-2004 school year, the goal is that 50% of all LEP students will increase one level of English language proficiency after each year of English language instruction. The following chart demonstrates the annual targets leading up to the goal of 100% by the year 2013-2014.

English Language Proficiency Performance Targets/Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives

_________________________

¹ The first cohort of students (those students who completed their first full year in an English language program in 2002-2003) will complete four years of English language instruction (K-4) at the end of the 2005-2006 school year or five years of English language instruction (5-12) in 2006-2007. Therefore, this Annual Measurable Achievement Objective can first be measured at the end of the 2005-2006 school year.

² During 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, the true value of this Annual Measurable Achievement Objective cannot be measured, since no cohort will have completed four full years in the program from the baseline year. The targets listed in this table for these two years are presented in italics and will be estimated based on a snapshot of students rather than by a cohort.>

³ During 2003-2004, 2004-2005, and 2005-2006, the true value of this Annual Measurable Achievement Objective cannot be measured, since no cohort will have completed five full years in the program from the baseline year. The targets listed in this table for these three years are presented in italics and will be based on a snapshot of students rather than by a cohort.

The 2002-2003 data is a snapshot of New Jersey students’ levels of English proficiency by years of English language instruction. As such, the 2002-2003 school year represents the baseline year against which future student growth will be compared. This baseline data is presented in the next section.

New Jersey Baseline Data 2003-2004

In the summer of 2003, New Jersey school districts reported on the levels of English proficiency by years of English language instruction for all students in the state of New Jersey. They also reported on the number of students exiting English language programs at the end of the 2002-2003 school year. The 2002-2003 data is a snapshot of New Jersey students’ levels of English proficiency by years of English language instruction. As such, the 2002-2003 school year represents the baseline year against which future student growth will be compared as is presented below.

Table 1 presents the number of students judged to be proficient in English and exiting English language programs separately for grades K to 4. Table 1 indicates that 30,898 kindergarten through fourth grade students participated in English language programs and that 11,142 (or 36%) obtained a level of English language proficiency sufficient to exit the program at the end of the school year. These numbers are also broken down by years in the program. For example, 29% of the 9,308 students who completed their first full year of English language instruction in 2002-2003 exited the program at the end of the school year.

Chart 1 illustrates the percentage of students exited by year and Chart 2 illustrates the number of students enrolled in each year of language instruction. The charts illustrate that the majority of students stay in English language programs for less than two years.

Table 2 shows that 26,347 students from Grades 5 through 12 participated in English language programs during the 2002-2003 school year and that 6,240 or 24% of these students obtained a level of English proficiency sufficient to exit the program. As in the previous table, these numbers are broken down by years of instruction. For example, of the 7,416 students who completed their first full year of English language instruction in 2002-2003, 22% achieved a level of English proficiency sufficient to exit the program by the end of the school year.

Chart 3 illustrates the percentage of students exited by year of instruction for students in grades five through twelve. Chart 4 illustrates the number of students enrolled in each year of language instruction and the number who exit the programs during each year of language instruction. As in the earlier grades, the charts illustrate that the majority of students stay in English language programs for less than two years. However, in comparing Chart 1 and Chart 3, the reader will observe that the percentage of students exiting after two or fewer years of instruction is higher for the kindergarten through fourth grade group than for the older students.

Table 3 provides the number and percent of students at each level of English proficiency by years in the program for grades K – 4. For example, students with less than one year of English language instruction are fairly evenly divided among the levels of English language proficiency. Of the 13,147 students with less than one year of English language instruction, 16% are at the beginner proficiency level, 20% are at the low intermediate proficiency level, 21% are at the high intermediate proficiency level, 23% are at the advanced proficiency level, and 20% are at the proficient level.

Chart 5 illustrates the percent of students at each level of English language proficiency by years in the program. The chart illustrates that as students spend more time in English programs, the percentage of students at higher proficiency levels increases.

Table 4 provides the same information for grades 5 to 12. For example, students with less than one year of English language instruction are fairly evenly divided among the levels of English language proficiency. Of the 8,979 students with less than one year of English language instruction, 16% are at the beginner proficiency level, 27% are at the low intermediate proficiency level, 24% are at the high intermediate proficiency level, 23% are at the advanced proficiency level, and 10% are at the proficient level.

Chart 6 presents the percent of students at each of the five language proficiency levels by years of language instruction. For students who have less than one year of English language instruction, the percent of students at each proficiency level is fairly evenly divided (ranging from 16% to 27%). As the years of instruction progress, a lower percent of the students are at the beginner and low intermediate levels.

Interpreting Your Data

Your school district has received a summary of the data that you submitted for the school year 2002-2003. The district Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 are comparable to the statewide Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 presented earlier. The only difference is that the district tables are based only on students from your district. You may want to compare your district to the statewide tables. An example of such a comparison is presented below for the hypothetical school district ABCD. Assume District ABCD received Table 1 below.

You compare your district to the statewide data (Table 1, page 4) and you notice several things:

• You are exiting a lower percent of students overall (18% or 35 of the 200 students in your district versus 36% statewide for Table 1).
• None of your students with less than one year of instruction is exiting the program and only 10% of the students with one full year of instruction are exiting the program as compared to 43% and 29% for comparable groups statewide.
• All of your students are exiting by the end of three full years in the program while this is not true for the statewide data.

What conclusions might you draw? The first two bullets might suggest your program is doing poorly as compared to state data. However, the third bullet might suggest that you are doing better as compared to state data. You might next compare your district Table 3 to the statewide Table 3. Assume that Table 3 for District ABCD is as shown in the following page. Although the data is a snapshot and not longitudinal, you might conclude the following:

• The students in District ABCD have lower proficiency levels when tested with less than one full year of English language instruction than is true statewide. For example, 33% of your students with less than a full year of instruction are at the beginner level, while only 16% are at the beginner level in the statewide data.
• The trend for your students is that the proficiency levels are higher after each year of language instruction. All the students in the district have exited after three years of instruction, which isn’t true in the statewide data.

Based on the above data, you might conclude that your district is doing well as compared to other districts in the state.

Data Collection 2003-2004

In the spring and summer of 2004, New Jersey schools will again be asked to report on the achievement of English language learners on the English language proficiency tests. A prototype of the data collection form is presented below. Please note that the form is very similar to that used in 2002-2003, with the addition of the column entitled "# Students Improving One or More Proficiency Levels". The additional data that will be requested in 2004 is the number of students improving one or more proficiency levels by years in program.

Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Legal Statement | Accessibility Statement