English Language Development
The State Board of Education has the authority to adopt academic standards for each subject area in grades K–12. Tennessee adopted the ELPA21 Standards as Tennessee’s English Language Development (ELD) Standards in 2024. These 10 standards span grades K-12 and highlight how students use language to construct meaning, participate in academic conversations, express ideas effectively in different contexts.
The Tennessee ELD Standards define what English Learners (ELs) Need to know and be able to do linguistically. These standards focus on how language functions across content areas – speaking, listening, reading, and writing. They are also aligned with college and career ready expectations. The purpose of these standards is to guide instruction that helps ELs develop the academic language proficiency necessary to access grade-level content and meet state standard expectations.
To support instructional alignment, Tennessee developed ELD Standards Crosswalks, which connect ELD standards to related academic standards. These tools help educators intentionally integrate language development into content instruction by identifying the academic language, language functions, and language forms often embedded in grade-level standards. The crosswalks are a practical bridge between language development and content learning.