WIDA Standards

The SC State Board of Education formally adopted the 2020 Edition of the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards Framework on May 11, 2021, to be fully implemented throughout the state during the 2022-23 school year. The WIDA Framework will continue to include the essential ‘Can Do Philosophy’ that emphasizes the assets and potentials of MLs, the WIDA ELD standard statements, the six levels of language proficiency, as well as the six gradelevel clusters. In addition, the 2020 Edition presents a new supporting organization for the WIDA ELD standard statements, along with additional resources. The standards framework is now organized into four components and contains more inclusive communication modes and grade-level cluster materials. 

The WIDA ELD standards uphold the goal of increasing equity for MLs by setting high expectations for all students and providing common and visible language expectations about grade-level academic content. In addition, these standards elevate diverse cultural, linguistic, educational, and other background traits that must be provided to all students for quality learning opportunities. 

MLs are best served when they learn content and language together in linguistically and culturally sustaining ways. The standards framework promotes content-driven language learning. Systematic, explicit, and sustained language development across standards and grade bands gives educators the basis for their instruction, as well as a guide for their MLs’ language growth. 

The WIDA ELD Standards Framework consists of four components, ranging from broad to narrow in scope, which work together to make a comprehensive picture of language development: 

• WIDA ELD Standards Statements, 

• Key Language Uses (KLUs), 

• Language Expectations, and 

• Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLDs). 

While the WIDA ELD Standards have stayed the same, they have been enhanced by adding new and expanded resources to align with current policy, theory, and practice. As a result, these five statements continue to provide the broadest conceptual framing and illustrate the integration of content and language. 

The WIDA ELD Standard Statements are: 

1. MLs communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting, 

2. MLs communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts, 

3. MLs communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics, 

4. MLs communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science, and 

5. MLs communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies.

KLUs summarize prominent language across disciplines, helping educators organize and coordinate instruction. KLUs select genre families that appear across content areas: Narrate, Inform, Explain, and Argue. KLUs enhance instruction by assisting educators in cohesively prioritizing and organizing content and language objectives 

From the overarching standards’ statements, the 2020 WIDA Standards narrow into grade band-specific language expectations closely aligned to the content area standards. 

PLDs are a detailed articulation of student language performance across six levels of English language proficiency. Each end-of-level descriptor includes and builds on previous levels. PLDs align with the six grade-level clusters used in the annual ELP assessment, ACCESS for ELLs. 

WIDA has developed sets of materials that are appropriate for students in different grade-level clusters. The 2020 Edition also matches the grade-level clusters currently in use on ACCESS for ELLs Online. Learn more about the full implementation of the ELD Standards in the English Language Development (ELD) Standards Framework Implementation memorandum.