The Dynamic Language Learning Progression Project is part of a larger effort to improve the assessment of the English language proficiency of preK-12 English language learners. The project is funded through a subcontract to GSE&IS at UCLA from the ASSETS Consortium at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. The project draws on the expertise of project staff in the areas of academic language development and assessment, as well as formative assessment and data use by education professionals.

Dynamic Language Learning Progressions (DLLPs) represent the development of the predominant functions or purposes that language serves in instructional settings (e.g., to explain, describe, define, compare). DLLPs are dynamic because 1) the progressions are designed to capture multiple pathways to the development of English language proficiency, and 2) the progressions are designed to take account of multiple facets that influence the pathways of development, for example, contexts of language use and students' backgrounds.

The DLLP Project aims to:

• Develop research conjectured and empirically validated dynamic   language learning progressions encompassing the language   development of students pre-k through grade 12, both English Proficient   and English Language Learners, for a range of academic language   functions, for example, explanation, description and definition, needed for   success in school

• Inform, in conjunction with the WIDA standards, the ASSETS   Consortium's development of interim and summative assessments

• Develop materials to support the use of the DLLPs by teachers for   instruction and formative assessment

The project work is being conducted in three phases over a period of four years (September, 2011 – September, 2015).

For more information about DLLPs contact: Alison Bailey, abailey@gseis.ucla.edu or Margaret Heritage, mheritag@ucla.edu