What Are the 6 ESOL Levels in Florida?

Florida public schools sort English language learners into six proficiency levels drawn from the WIDA framework: Level 1 Entering, Level 2 Emerging, Level 3 Developing, Level 4 Expanding, Level 5 Bridging, and Level 6 Reaching. The six ESOL levels in Florida describe what a student can do with English in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and they drive the instructional support the student receives, the accommodations available on state tests, and the point at which the student can exit the ESOL program.¹

How the Levels Are Measured

Every student classified as an English Language Learner on the first day of the testing window takes the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 assessment each year. Kindergartners take the Kindergarten ACCESS, students in grades 1 through 12 take the standard ACCESS, and students with the most significant cognitive disabilities take the Alternate ACCESS.²

The 2025–2026 testing window runs January 12 through March 13, 2026.³ Results include a score in each of the four domains and an overall composite. Those scores are what place a student at Level 1 through Level 6.

Level 1: Entering

A Level 1 student understands oral messages that come with visuals or gestures and may recognize only a handful of everyday English words or phrases. They can follow one-step directions, match spoken descriptions to pictures, and signal basic agreement or disagreement. Spoken and written output is limited to isolated words or memorized chunks.⁴

Level 2: Emerging

At Level 2, students identify main topics in discussions, follow short oral directions when they have visual support, and begin to distinguish facts from opinions when the two are stated aloud. They use simple sentences and common phrases but still depend on familiar vocabulary and predictable patterns.⁴

Level 3: Developing

A Level 3 student connects spoken ideas to their own experiences, identifies cause-and-effect relationships in classroom discussion, and weighs pros and cons of issues raised in class. Sentences grow into compound structures, and the student starts handling content-specific vocabulary in subjects like science and social studies.⁴

Level 4: Expanding

Level 4 students exchange information and ideas with classmates, connect people and events from what they hear, and apply key concepts presented orally. They use a wider range of sentence types and start incorporating technical vocabulary tied to specific academic subjects.⁴

Level 5: Bridging

Level 5 represents near-proficient English use. These students expand on others’ ideas, distinguish events and situations from detailed oral descriptions, recall key information about complex processes, and identify viewpoints along with the evidence used to support them. They need only occasional linguistic support to access grade-level content.⁴

Level 6: Reaching

A Level 6 student functions comparably to English-proficient peers. They synthesize information from multiple speakers, recognize language that conveys precise meaning, and evaluate the strengths and limitations of different viewpoints. Level 6 reflects full academic English proficiency across contexts.⁴

What the Levels Mean for Exiting ESOL

The proficiency level is the gate to leaving the ESOL program, but the exact requirement depends on grade.

The student must earn an ACCESS composite score of 4.0 or greater and at least 4.0 in the reading domain.²
In grades K–2, the ACCESS score alone is enough to exit.
In grades 3–9, the student must also earn a passing score on the grade-level statewide ELA/Reading assessment.
In grades 10–12, the student must earn a passing score on the grade 10 statewide ELA/Reading assessment, or an equivalent concordant score, sufficient to meet graduation requirements.⁵

Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who take the Alternate ACCESS have separate thresholds: a composite of at least P2 in grades K–5, P3 in grades 6–8, and P4 in grades 9–12.²

A common misstatement circulates in parent guides claiming a student must score 4.0 in all four domains. The rule requires 4.0 on the composite and 4.0 in reading, not a 4.0 in every domain separately.

Accommodations While a Student Is at Any Level

As long as a student is classified as an ELL, and for a period after exit, they qualify for accommodations on Florida statewide assessments, including the FAST. These are meant to measure content knowledge rather than penalize a student for still learning English. The main accommodations are:

Flexible setting, including testing in a separate room with an ESOL or heritage language teacher as the test administrator, with parent notification.
Flexible scheduling, letting a test session be broken into brief periods within a single school day, with additional time available, so long as each session is completed that day.
Heritage language assistance, in which an ESOL or heritage language teacher provides limited clarification of directions, prompts, and answer choices in the student’s home language. This does not cover reading passages on ELA assessments and is not full oral translation of test content.
Approved English-to-heritage-language translation dictionaries or glossaries, in print or digital form.

These accommodations apply across all statewide assessment windows.⁶ If they aren’t being provided, the ESOL coordinator or the ELL committee at the school is the place to raise it.

What Happens After a Student Reaches Level 6 and Exits

Meeting the exit scores doesn’t end the school’s responsibility. Once the student is reclassified as Fully English Proficient, their academic performance is reviewed on a set schedule for two years: automatically at the first report card, semi-annually during the first year, and again at the end of the second year.⁷

If test scores or grades show a consistent pattern of underperformance during that window, the school must convene an ELL committee meeting, with notice to the parents, to decide whether the student needs additional services or should re-enter ESOL. The committee weighs test data, report card grades, teacher input, and parent preferences.⁷ Exited students also keep their eligibility for testing accommodations during this monitoring period.⁶

Parent Rights and the ELL Committee

Big decisions in a student’s ESOL path run through the ELL committee, which typically includes ESOL teachers, a school administrator or designee, guidance counselors, and other relevant staff such as school psychologists. Parents must be invited to any committee meeting involving their child.⁸ The committee handles decisions about re-entry after exit, coordinates services for students who are both ELLs and receiving exceptional student education, and reviews cases where progress is a concern.

Parents may also decline ESOL enrollment for their child or have the child removed from a language instruction program. Opting out doesn’t cancel the district’s obligations. If a parent refuses services, the school must meet with the parent to describe what the child would receive, explain the likely benefits of participation, and clarify that the district will not require the student to attend a particular school to access ELL services.⁹ Even after a refusal, the district still has to provide qualified ESOL instructors and ensure the student has equal opportunity to meet English language and academic needs.

1
Florida Department of Education. English Language Development Proficiency Standards for English Language Learners
2
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 6A-6.09021 – Annual English Language Proficiency Assessment for English Language Learners
3
Florida Department of Education. WIDA ACCESS
4
WIDA. WIDA ACCESS Interpretive Guide for Student Score Reports, 2025
5
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 6A-6.0903 – Requirements for Exiting English Language Learners from the English for Speakers of Other Languages Program
6
Florida Department of Education. 2024-2025 Statewide Assessments Accommodations Guide
7
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 6A-6.09031
8
Florida Department of Education. Florida Administrative Code 6A-6.0903 Requirements for Exiting English Language Learners from the English for Speakers of Other Languages Program
9
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 6A-6.0902 – Requirements for Identification, Eligibility, and Programmatic Assessments of English Language Learners