2ND GRADE
2023 QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
|
35
ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
NORTH CAROLINA STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY
On March 4, 2021, the State Board of Education unanimously approved the 2020 Edition of the WIDA
English Language Development (ELD) Standards as the North Carolina ELD Standard Course of Study
(NC ELD SCOS) for implementation in the 2022-2023 school year. The NC ELD Standard Course of Study
reflects that Multilingual Learners are best served when they learn content and language together in
linguistically and culturally sustaining ways (WIDA 2020).
The NC ELD standards serve as the framework that guides each Public School Unit (PSU) in the development
of the curriculum and instruction of their Multilingual Learners. These standards are not intended to be
curriculum, nor do they indicate the whole of the curriculum to be written by a PSU. The ELD standards,
together with cross-disciplinary academic content standards and disciplinary practices, define the
language Multilingual Learners need as they move toward college, career, and civic readiness. Use of the
NC ELD standards should be complemented by a well-developed, content-rich curriculum, and effective
pedagogical approaches within an equitable educational program for Multilingual Learners (WIDA 2020).
The NC ELD SCOS is anchored by four Big Ideas that are interwoven throughout the standards. Like the
Can-Do Philosophy, the Big Ideas support the design of standards-based educational experiences that
are student-centered, culturally and linguistically sustaining, and responsive to Multilingual Learners’
strengths and needs (WIDA 2020). The four Big Ideas are:
1) Equity of Opportunity and Access;
2) Integration of Content and Language;
3) Collaboration Among Stakeholders; and
4) Functional Approach to Language Development.
Equity of Opportunity and Access
Multilingual Learners come from a wide range of cultural, linguistic, educational, and socioeconomic
backgrounds and have many physical, social, emotional, experiential, and/or cognitive differences. All
bring assets, potential, and resources to schools that educators must leverage to increase equity in
standards-based systems. The NC ELD Standard Course of Study upholds the goal of increasing equity
for Multilingual Learners by providing common and visible language expectations in relation to grade-
level academic content. These expectations also serve to increase coherence of policy and practice
around the education of Multilingual Learners at federal, state, and local levels (WIDA 2020).
Integration of Content and Language
The NC ELD Standard Course of Study represents the integration of content and language by illustrating
explicit and specific content–language connections. Multilingual Learners develop content and language
concurrently, with academic content as a context for language learning and language as a means for
learning academic content. The NC ELD Standard Course of Study introduces ways of looking at the
integration of content and language, for example, through Key Language Uses, Language Expectations, and
Correspondence Tables for Content and Language Standards (WIDA 2020). The integration of content and
language for Multilingual Learners promotes understanding the connections between content and language,
making meaning within and across content areas, interaction of students with each other in challenging
content activities, and coordination of design and delivery of curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
Collaboration Among Stakeholders
Districts and schools are complex educational systems with collaboration extending across stakeholders
from classrooms, to schools, districts, and the families and communities of students. Stakeholders
have different areas of expertise and are often responsible for different aspects of educational planning
and delivery; however, collectively they are responsible for the success of Multilingual Learners.
Communication and collaboration between ESL teachers and other educators—including general
education teachers, EC specialists, and AIG specialists—is vital to the success of Multilingual Learners.