Proficiency Standards

South Carolina adopted the language proficiency (ELP) standards developed by the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA®) Consortium in July 2014.  Horry County Schools uses the WIDA ELP Standards as a basis for providing services to ELLs. 

The WIDA ® Consortium has developed the following English language proficiency (ELP) standards for LEP students in PreK-12:

• English Language Proficiency Standard 1: English language learners communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting; 
• English Language Proficiency Standard 2: English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content of Language Arts;
• English Language Proficiency Standard 3: English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content of Mathematics;
• English Language Proficiency Standard 4: English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content of Science; and
• English Language Proficiency Standard 5: English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content of Social Studies.

The standards framework consists of five components. Some of these components are expressions of a particular philosophy while others are explicit representations of knowledge. The five components are:

    1. Can Do Philosophy  (Descriptors by grade cluster: PreK-K, 1-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12)
    2. Guiding Principles of Language Development
     3. Age-appropriate Academic Language in Sociocultural Contexts
     4. Performance Definitions (Listening and Reading / Speaking and Writing) 
     5. Strands of Model Performance Indicators (WIDA 2012 Amplified Standards)

Detailed information about the WIDA ELP Standards can be found at:  

https://www.wida.us/standards/eld.aspx