HANOI, VIETNAM–Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education and Training Banh Tien Long has asked universities to help students improve their English so that they can use it confidently and competently by 2015. Mr Long made the statement at a seminar held in Hanoi on full story

LEARNING THE LANGAUGE–Oregon has become the latest state to stop using an alternative test for English-language learners because federal education officials have questioned its comparability with the state’s regular test. A number of states have already dropped alternative tests for English-language learners for the same reason. full story

GAINESVILLE, GA–Hall County and Gainesville schools passed all three annual measurable achievement objectives under No Child Left Behind pertaining to the performance of limited English proficient students last school year. Results from the annually administered ACCESS English Language Proficiency Test reveal 69.9 percent of the Hall County school system’s English language full story

ATASCADERO, CA–The Atascadero Unified School District Board of Trustees received an overview from AUSD testing and accountability coordinator Dan Mosunich regarding the expected results of the California English Language Development Test, which is administered to students every year to assess their spelling, listening, reading and writing skills, during a school board meeting full story

CHANDIGARH, INDIA–Indian students applying to foreign universities are usually made to take English proficiency tests, mainly International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Test For English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The Panjab University has now decided to return the favour. Foreign students enrolling themselves here would now have to full story

MIAMI, FL–Learning a foreign language can be daunting. In Florida, there are almost a quarter-million public-school students learning English for the first time. They’re expected to pass the FCAT in a year. Talk about intimidating. Those students don’t only have to speak English fluently, they must master grammar and reading at their grade level. Yet research shows it takes two to five full story

EVANSTON, IL–Administrators at Evanston/Skokie School District 65 have filed an appeal after failing to meet standards for the No Child Left Behind Act for the first time in three years. The appeal alleges the district was unfairly hurt by a change in the test given to “limited English proficient” students. In past years, these students were able to take a less complex test. full story

DES MOINES, IA–Increased numbers of poor and immigrant students in Des Moines public schools are making it difficult to meet federal reading and math standards, school officials say. More than one-third of Des Moines public schools – 22 schools and the district itself – have been placed on a “schools in need of assistance” list for failing to meet proficiency expectations full story

THE ENGLISH LINK–This likely will not come as a surprise to most professionals in the ESL industry, but IELTS is beginning to compete with TOEFL in the United States. IELTS has traditionally been used in the Commonwealth countries (with the exception of Canada), while the US has favored TOEFL results. full story  related story  press release from IELTS

MARKETWATCH–California State University System, Dartmouth are the Newest Schools to Recognize the Leading English Language Test. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) today announced that more than 2,000 U.S. academic faculties, colleges and universities accept its English language proficiency test. full story  related story  other related story