Reference Performance Level Descriptors: Outcome of a National Working Session on Defining an English Proficient Performance Standard

This document is the second in a series of working papers that elaborate on a framework of four key stages in moving toward a common definition of English learner (EL), as described in the CCSSO publication, Toward a common definition of English learner: Guidance for states and state assessment consortia in defining and addressing policy and technical issues and options (Linquanti & Cook, 2013). It presents a set of Reference Performance Level Descriptors developed as a result of guidance provided at a national working session of state and consortium representatives, experts and stakeholders held on September 17, 2013 at the Washington, D.C. offices of CCSSO. Specifically, the working session deliberated on the CCSSO guidance document's third stage: defining an English proficient performance standard.