English Learners (ELs) and former ELs make up nearly 40% of California’s K–12 students. For these students, moving beyond English Learner status—officially known as reclassification—signals a readiness to participate fully in academic instruction in English. But reclassification policies are not consistent across districts, and in some cases EL students must perform better than many of their English-proficient peers in order to be reclassified.

The state has four criteria for reclassification: English proficiency, teacher evaluations, parental input, and basic skills relative to English-proficient students. However, districts have a great deal of latitude in implementing most of these criteria. PPIC recently surveyed California’s 1,072 districts about their reclassification processes; 342 districts responded. We focus here on district policies for assessing English proficiency and basic skills among ELs in fifth grade (just before they move on to middle school).

English proficiency is the only criterion that has been standardized by the state. Early analysis of our survey results show that 99% of districts use the state’s recommended English proficiency assessment, the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC), and 94% use the state cutoff score. A substantial minority (23%) reported that their district uses an additional test for English proficiency; this finding may indicate confusion on the part of EL program administrators, because many of the tests these districts listed are more commonly used to assess basic skills.

Unlike the English proficiency criterion, basic skills assessment is not standardized. According to state guidance, EL students must perform as well as English-proficient students of the same age on an objective assessment of basic skills in English. But districts rely on a wide array of tests and cutoffs to evaluate basic skills.

A minority of districts report using just one assessment (17.5%). For most of those districts, that assessment is the SBAC, the state standardized test that all fifth-graders take each spring. In most districts (82%), however, two or more tests are used; in some of these districts, ELs are required to pass two (or more), while in other districts, ELs can satisfy the basic skills criterion if they pass any one of the tests in use. Though multiple tests may offer more opportunities to ELs, these opportunities come with a monitoring cost; EL coordinators, students, and their families must then track performance across multiple metrics to determine if reclassification should occur.

Among our 342 district respondents, SBAC is the most popular tool for assessing basic skills (used in 284 districts), followed by the i-Ready (used in 129 districts). In total, we found that the surveyed districts used 24 different national assessments, as well as district-written exams and report cards, to determine whether fifth-graders had met this same basic skills benchmark.

It is worth noting that comprehension of literary and informational text—a shared focus of the most commonly used basic skills tests—is already assessed by the state’s English proficiency assessment (the ELPAC). And, while SBAC assesses writing and listening skills, many of the other popular assessments do not. This demonstrates substantial variation in how basic skills in English are assessed statewide.

The test scores required for reclassification also vary across districts. For example, 48% of districts using SBAC require ELs to score at the “standard met” level, while 3% require even higher scores (“standard exceeded”). Notably, only 56% of English-proficient fifth-graders scored at “standard met” on the SBAC in 2025, meaning that ELs are often held to a cutoff score that almost half of English-proficient students do not meet.

For California’s EL students, English proficiency is critical to learning, access to advanced instruction, and self-efficacy. However, the issues we have examined here can make reclassification challenging for many EL students. Specifically, the complexity of reclassification decision-making can be a burden for district staff and lead to delays for students. Twenty four other states, including North Carolina and Oregon, reclassify students using just one assessment—something California could consider.