Kindergarten through 3rd Grade - CO English Language Proficiency Guidelines

The Colorado Board of Education made the Colorado English Language Proficiency (CELP) standards for preschool through 12th grade, based on the national World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) standards for English language learner (ELL), or children who does not have English as their first language. 

These standards provide different guidelines for the abilities of students whose first language is not English to read, write, speak, and listen. They differ somewhat from the other Colorado Academic Standards because they serve as a framework for supporting student learning across different areas. 

As ELL children study science, social studies, and other subjects, their level of language ability will affect how they learn (like with reading and listening) and their ability to communicate their learning (like with speaking and writing). The CELP standards define these levels and help teachers understand how children understand the right grade-level academic content while learning English.

The CELP standards include “Model Performance Indicators” for five levels of English learning. These Indicators serve as examples of how ELL children with different levels of English ability would understand and show their learning in a number of areas. 

The Guidelines for children ages 3–5 years talk about learning for ELL children in the area, or “domain,” of English Language Development. 

This domain includes three subdomains: 

• Receptive English Language Skills, which connect to the Reading and Listening parts of the CELP standards
• Expressive English Skills, which connect to the Writing and Speaking parts of the CELP standards
• Engagement in English Literacy Activities, which are shown within the example indicators for a number of areas in the CELP standards

Parts of the CELP standards about children’s ability to communicate for social and learning purposes also relate to preschool skills, which are shared in the Social Relationships subdomain in the Guideline’s Social and Emotional Development domain for children ages 3–5 years.