Skip to main content
California Department of Education Logo

Summative ELPAC General PLDs


This document provides the general performance level descriptors (PLDs) for the Summative English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). These Summative general PLDs take into account the categories of Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging. The language in the description draws from the language used to describe those categories on page 20 of the 2012 California English Language Development Standards: Kindergarten Through Grade 12 (CA ELD Standards) (PDF).

Level Description
4 English learners at this level have well developed oral (listening and speaking) and written (reading and writing) skills. They can use English to learn and communicate in meaningful ways that are appropriate to different tasks, purposes, and audiences in a variety of social and academic contexts. They may need occasional linguistic support to engage in familiar social and academic contexts; they may need light support to communicate on less familiar tasks and topics. This test performance level corresponds to the upper range of the “Bridging” proficiency level as described in the 2012 CA ELD Standards.
3 English learners at this level have moderately developed oral (listening and speaking) and written (reading and writing) skills. They can sometimes use English to learn and communicate in meaningful ways in a range of topics and content areas. They need light-to-minimal linguistic support to engage in familiar social and academic contexts; they need moderate support to communicate on less familiar tasks and topics. This test performance level corresponds to the upper range of the “Expanding” proficiency level through the lower range of the “Bridging” proficiency level as described in the CA ELD Standards.
2 English learners at this level have somewhat developed oral (listening and speaking) and written (reading and writing) skills. They can use English to meet immediate communication needs but often are not able to use English to learn and communicate on topics and content areas. They need moderate-to-light linguistic support to engage in familiar social and academic contexts; they need substantial-to-moderate support to communicate on less familiar tasks and topics. This test performance level corresponds to the low- to mid-range of the “Expanding” proficiency level as described in the CA ELD Standards.
1 English learners at this level have minimally developed oral (listening and speaking) and written (reading and writing) English skills. They tend to rely on learned words and phrases to communicate meaning at a basic level. They need substantial-to-moderate linguistic support to communicate in familiar social and academic contexts; they need substantial linguistic support to communicate on less familiar tasks and topics. This test performance level corresponds to the “Emerging” proficiency level as described in the CA ELD Standards.

Questions:   English Language Proficiency and Spanish Assessments Office | elpac@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0784
Last Reviewed: Thursday, February 8, 2024
Recently Posted in Testing