Last updated:
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
ELPAC levels tell teachers and families where an English Learner stands and what support they need next. This guide explains California’s ELPAC performance levels, what each level looks like in the classroom, how they connect to the Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging framework, how they differ between the Initial and Summative tests, and how levels drive the services a student receives.
Table of contents
What Are the ELPAC Levels?
Quick answer: the Summative ELPAC reports an overall performance level from Level 1 (minimally developed) to Level 4 (well developed). These four levels connect to the three proficiency ranges California uses for instruction under the CA ELD Standards, Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging. The level shows how much support a student needs and guides their English language development instruction.
What Each Level Looks Like
| Level | In the classroom | Support |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 (Minimally Developed) | Uses words and set phrases; relies on visuals and modeling. | Substantial |
| Level 2 (Somewhat Developed) | Short, simple sentences on familiar topics. | Moderate |
| Level 3 (Moderately Developed) | Expanded sentences and connected ideas; growing academic language. | Light |
| Level 4 (Well Developed) | Uses English for a wide range of academic tasks near grade level. | Minimal |
How the Levels Connect to Emerging, Expanding, Bridging
California instruction is organized around three CA ELD Standards proficiency ranges: Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging. The four ELPAC levels map onto these ranges so that a student’s score points directly to the instruction they need. Level 1 corresponds to Emerging, Level 2 to the low to middle range of Expanding, Level 3 to the upper range of Expanding through the lower range of Bridging, and Level 4 to the upper range of Bridging. In practice, teachers use the ELPAC level to plan the right scaffolds for each learner.
Levels on the Initial vs Summative ELPAC
The Initial ELPAC uses its levels to make an identification decision: a student is either Initially Fluent English Proficient (IFEP) or an English Learner at a Novice or Intermediate level. The Summative ELPAC reports the 1 to 4 overall level each year to track progress. This is why the same student can have an Initial result of “English Learner, Intermediate” and, a year later, a Summative overall Level 3. See Initial vs Summative ELPAC.
How Levels Drive Services and Reclassification
ELPAC levels are not just descriptive. A student’s level shapes the English language development instruction they receive, and the Summative overall Level 4 is, since Assembly Bill 2555 (September 2026), the only criterion California uses for reclassification (RFEP). That makes moving a student from Level 3 to Level 4 a concrete, high-stakes goal, and it usually hinges on the composite that lags most, which statewide is Written Language.
The most concrete way to see what separates one level from the next is to look at how an actual response gets judged. California publishes practice test scoring guides alongside the free practice and training tests, and they show the criteria applied to real spoken and written answers, which is as close as these level descriptions come to a worked example a teacher can hear. The links, by grade span, are in ELPAC practice test.
What Instruction Looks Like at Each Level
Because the level is meant to guide teaching, it helps to see what changes in practice as a student moves up. The scaffolds do not disappear; they thin out, shifting responsibility gradually from the teacher to the student.
| Level | Typical instructional focus | Example scaffold |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 (Minimally Developed) | Building core vocabulary and comprehension through visuals and routines. | Word banks, labeled images, total physical response, and heavy modeling. |
| Level 2 (Somewhat Developed) | Producing short sentences and participating in structured exchanges. | Sentence frames, partner talk with fixed roles, and guided questions. |
| Level 3 (Moderately Developed) | Extending ideas and using academic vocabulary across content. | Open sentence starters, structured debates, and paragraph frames. |
| Level 4 (Well Developed) | Independent academic language with light polishing of precision and nuance. | Extended writing, self-editing checklists, and open discussion. |
The through line is talk. At every level the student needs to produce language, not just receive it, and the amount of independent production expected rises with each step. Statewide, the written domains are where a level is most often held back: on the 2025-26 Summative ELPAC, 10.7 percent of students scored Well Developed in Reading and 10.6 percent in Writing, against 44.8 percent in Speaking.
How Students Move Between Levels Over Time
Reaching Level 4 is a multi-year journey, not a single leap. Newcomers at Level 1 often make visible gains in their first year or two, because early language acquisition tends to move quickly, then progress commonly slows in the middle range as the academic language demands rise. This middle-range plateau is where many students stall, and it is a large part of why some become Long-Term English Learners after six or more years in U.S. schools. Districts track this by watching the scale score, not just the overall level, since a student can gain ground within a level for a year or more before the overall level ticks up. The overall Level 4 threshold ranges from a scale score of 1474 in kindergarten to 1615 in grades 11 and 12; how scale scores are built is covered in ELPAC scoring explained.
For planning, the useful question is not simply what level a student is at but how their scale score is trending and which domain is holding the overall level down. A student rated Well Developed in reading and writing but Beginning to Develop in speaking carries a weak Oral Language score into an overall result that weights oral and written language equally from grade 1, so the oral gap holds the overall level down. Targeting the lagging domain, rather than reteaching what a student already does well, is what turns a stalled profile into steady upward movement toward reclassification.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the ELPAC performance levels?
Four overall levels, from Level 1 (minimally developed) to Level 4 (well developed), on the Summative ELPAC.
How do the ELPAC levels relate to Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging?
The four ELPAC levels map onto the three CA ELD Standards ranges, so a score connects directly to the right instruction.
What does Level 4 mean?
Well developed: the student uses English for a wide range of academic tasks near grade level, with minimal support. Since AB 2555 (2026), Level 4 is also the only criterion for reclassification.
Are the levels the same on the Initial and Summative ELPAC?
No. The Initial ELPAC identifies a student as IFEP or English Learner (Novice or Intermediate); the Summative reports a 1 to 4 level each year to track progress.
How long does it take to move up an ELPAC level?
It varies by student. Early gains often come quickly for newcomers, while progress commonly slows in the middle range as academic language demands rise. Reaching Level 4 typically takes several years, which is why districts track scale-score growth within a level, not just changes in the overall level.
Why do some students stall at a middle level?
Many students plateau at Level 2 or 3 because academic language, and especially reading and writing, is harder to build than early conversational English. Students in grades 6 to 12 who have spent six or more years in U.S. schools, stayed at the same ELPAC level for two or more years or regressed, and, in grades 6 to 9, scored Standard Not Met on the ELA CAASPP are considered Long-Term English Learners.
Do students at higher levels still need support?
Yes, but less of it. Scaffolds thin out rather than disappear: a Level 4 student may still use self-editing checklists and academic vocabulary supports while working largely independently at grade level.
Related Resources
- ELPAC Practice Test: Official Free Links by Grade Span
- ELPAC Explained
- ELPAC Scoring Explained
- California ELD Standards
- RFEP and Reclassification in California
- Initial vs Summative ELPAC
Conclusion
ELPAC levels turn a test score into a teaching plan: four overall levels that map to Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging and tell teachers exactly how much support each English Learner needs. Helping students climb from one level to the next, above all toward the Level 4 that supports reclassification, is a matter of practicing English at the right level, every day.
Sources: California Department of Education, ELPAC; CDE, ELD Standards.
Meeting a Full Range of Levels in One Classroom
Anyone who has worked with ELPAC data knows the score is the easy part. The hard part arrives the next morning, when a teacher faces a single room that holds Level 1 and Level 4 students at the same time and is expected to move every one of them forward.
We ask a lot of whole-group instruction in that moment. Pitch the lesson to the middle, and newcomers fall behind while Level 4 students coast. One teacher, however experienced, cannot sit with every student, every day, at the exact level each one is working from.
That is why some districts are beginning to look at tools that stretch a teacher’s reach, giving each student something to practice with at their own level so the teacher is freed to focus on the group that needs them most that day. Telo AI is one practical example of this approach. In its dashboard, teachers can choose the California ELD Standards and their proficiency level descriptors.
See how Telo AI helps teachers give every English Learner practice at their own level: https://mytelo.ai/how-telo-works/
None of it replaces the teacher’s judgment about where their time is best spent. It simply means the student’s speaking gets regular attention, and teachers gain a clearer view of each student’s speaking progress and of who needs support.
Found this guide useful?
Preferred sources show up more often in your Google results, including AI Overviews.