English Speakers of Other Languages

General Information

English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is a state-funded instructional program for eligible English Learners (ELs) in grades K-12 (Georgia School Law Code 1981, 20-2-156, enacted in 1985). The ESOL program is a standards based curriculum emphasizing academic and social language development. ESOL coursework is based upon the WIDA Consortium English Language Development (ELD) standards. Classroom teachers integrate the ELD standards with the Georgia Standards of Excellence to enable ELs to both communicate in English and demonstrate their academic, social and cultural proficiency. Instructional approaches, both in ESOL and general education classes, ensure that the needs of Georgia’s ELs are accommodated. To the extent practicable, it is appropriate to use the EL’s home language as a means of  providing parents with school-related information.

Since 2006, Georgia has been part of the WIDA Consortium. Together with our colleague-states, we work in close collaboration with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), the Center for Applied Linguistics and MetriTech to ensure that our English Language Proficiency assessment (ACCESS for ELs) and our ESOL teaching standards remain viable and valid across administration years.