Oregon City district staff outline ELPA test demands as just 38 of 415 students met proficiency last year

Kelly Gavrich, the district’s English language development TOSA and district test coordinator, told the Oregon City School District 62 board at its Jan. 27 work session that the English Language Proficiency Assessment, known as ELPA, is the required state test used to determine whether students who are English learners can access grade-level classroom content.

Gavrich said the ELPA, created by the ELPA 21 consortium and administered under Oregon Department of Education requirements, measures four language domains — listening, speaking, reading and writing — and is grouped into grade bands from kindergarten through high school. She told the board that 415 students took ELPA in the district last year and 38 achieved the proficiency standard required to exit English language development services.

The ELPA is time-consuming and rigorous, Gavrich said. For kindergarten through fifth grade the exam totals about an hour to an hour and a half (administered in shorter segments), middle school…