In 2012, the Nevada State Board of Education (SBE) adopted the WIDA assessment system to measure language proficiency for English learners (ELs) as required by Elementary and Secondary Education ACT (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (2015). In 2015, the Nevada State Board of Education formally adopted the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards to align with the state’s English language proficiency assessment.

In 2019, Nevada SBE adopted the Nevada ELD Standards Framework and Instructional Guidance documents to further support Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in providing high quality instruction that addressed simultaneous content knowledge and language development.

Based on pedagogical changes in the WIDA 2020 ELD Standards Framework and upcoming aligned changes to the language assessment tasks in the revised WIDA ACCESS assessments, the Nevada ELD Standards Frameworks were revised in 2024. These documents have been renamed the Nevada ELD Standards and Instructional Supports.

The Nevada ELD Standards Statements

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

These standards cannot stand alone but are designed to work in conjunction with the Nevada Academic Content Standards (NVACS) in each content area and at each grade level.

WIDA CAN DO Philosophy

Nevada educators endeavor to support their EL students across content areas by advancing their academic English language in varied and engaging learning environments. The WIDA 2020 Standards Framework provides four big ideas for designing and implementing instruction for English learners.

The WIDA Four Big Ideas from the WIDA 2020 ELD Standards Framework are:

1. Equity of Opportunity and Access
2. Integration of Content and Language
3. Collaboration among Stakeholders
4. Functional Approach to Language Development

The Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) mandates that all identified English Learners be assessed annually to monitor progress in their English language proficiency. Since 2012, Nevada has used the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs assessments to measure a student's English proficiency. The assessment window occurs in the winter from January to March. Students are assessed at their school sites in the language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and the Nevada Department of Education monitor and measure student’s growth on the ACCESS assessments until students attain exit status from the EL Program, which for most students, is a 4.5 or greater on the Composite Overall score. For more information regarding alternate assessment participation and reclassification pathways, see the English Language Learners home page: EL Reclassification: Alternative Reclassification Pathways.