The standards-based education reform movement has serious implications for students who are English language learners (ELLs), particularly with regard to wide scale assessment. Standards-based reform has been promoted nationwide through two federal initiatives--the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and Title I of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The 1994 reauthorization of ESEA (Improving America's Schools Act) requires states to apply standards and assessments to all students, including ELLs by the 2000-2001 school year. This issue brief addresses the critical issues in wide-scale assessment of ELLs. Also discussed are testing accommodations and modifications for ELLs, instrument validity and reliability, the alignment of assessment to standards, curriculum, and instruction, and the next steps in wide-scale assessment of ELLs. It is concluded that while the inclusion of ELLs in wide-scale assessment could be beneficial, it is unclear that the immediate inclusion of this population of students is appropriate given the testing tools currently being implemented and the high stakes for participation. 15 references are included. (KFT)