The 2020 Edition

Putting it all together

The WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition serves as a resource for planning and implementing language curriculum, instruction and assessment for multilingual learners.

Educators can use the 2020 Edition to

Promote and guide systematic, explicit and sustained language development
Support and frame collaboration among educators to plan for content and language integration in culturally and linguistically sustaining ways
Monitor multilingual learners’ language growth
Provide standards-referenced feedback to students and families

A practical tool for the times, the 2020 Edition

Represents an evolution of our understanding – in both the theory and practice – about how multilingual learners engage with the curriculum, and how educators can work together to build on the assets of all learners
Closely aligns with academic content standards and disciplinary practices
Continues to break new ground to advance the field of language development in support of content learning for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse

View and download the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition: Kindergarten-Grade 12

Grade-level cluster-specific versions of the 2020 Edition are also available in the Resource Library.

Order printed copies from the
WIDA Store.

WIDA ELD Standards Framework, 2020 Digital Explorer

Learn more and get access to the digital explorer!

What's new and different in the 2020 Edition

A robust standards framework makes the language of academic content explicit and visible, and provides a coherent approach to language development
Grade-level cluster materials represent the WIDA ELD Standards Framework in action
A sample collaborative planning process for content-language integration offers a jump-off point for curricular conversations
Six grade-level clusters (K, 1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12) and six proficiency levels correspond with those of ACCESS for ELLs Online
Annotated Language Samples illustrate the WIDA ELD Standards Statements, Key Language Uses, and Language Expectations, Functions and Features in authentic, grade-level texts.

What's changed and what's the same from the 2007 and 2012 editions? See the Appendix E of the 2020 Edition: Comparison Chart

Resources for Implementation

Implementation Guides

Overview and Communication Resources

KLU Posters

Purchase the Key Language Uses poster sets from the WIDA Store.

Professional Development Resources

Self-paced, online workshops for participating WIDA Consortium members (WIDA Secure Portal account required)
Recorded webinars for the public
Focus Bulletins based on topics in the 2020 Edition
- Collaboration: Working Together to Serve Multilingual Learners
- Supporting Multilingual Learners' Language Growth Through Language Development Portfolios

Timeline for Rollout

Refer to your department of education’s guidelines for rollout and implementation – each WIDA education agency member determines their own timeline.

Previous Editions

WIDA intends to fully retire the 2012 Amplification of the WIDA English Language Development Standards, Kindergarten-Grade 12. However, we recognize that all member SEAs have different timelines for implementation of the WIDA ELD Standards Framework, 2020 Edition. With that in mind, the 2012 Amplification will remain in the Resource Library so that educators whose SEAs are still using it may access it as needed. The 2007 and 2004 editions are fully retired.

2012 Amplification of the WIDA English Language Development Standards Kindergarten – Grade 12

The WIDA Standards Framework and Its Theoretical Foundations

WIDA PRIME 2020

WIDA PRIME 2020 (Protocol for Review of Instructional Materials with the English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition) offers tools to assist publishers and educators in determining a degree of alignment between a given set of instructional materials and the framework.

All publishers and educators are encouraged to use the WIDA PRIME 2020 Rubric and Portfolio Workbook to inform local instructional and curricular decisions and build knowledge related to the Framework.