A Survey of Limited English Proficient Student Enrollments and Identification Criteria

This article reports the results of a national survey of limited English proficient (LEP) student enrollment (K-12 and adult) conducted in the winter of 1988-1989. The survey found that (a) although there are many students enrolled in the nation's schools who are reported as LEP, there may be three to six times as many who are in need of specialized instruction and (b) there continues to be considerable variation in identification criteria as well as in reporting procedures used by the states. Thus, the term limited English proficient does not yet have uniform significance nationwide.