Robert Linquanti is Project Director for English Learner Evaluation and Accountability Support (ELEAS) and Senior Researcher for the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd.

He specializes in assessment, evaluation and accountability policies, practices and systems for English learners (ELs), and has extensive experience helping states and school districts improve in these areas.

Linquanti has helped several states (e.g., California, Iowa, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Texas, West Virginia) analyze EL language proficiency and academic achievement, and develop or revise policy for implementing or modifying the Elementary and Secondary Education Act’s Title III annual measurable achievement objectives.

Linquanti leads WestEd's multiyear collaboration with the California Department of Education and regional service providers to deliver technical assistance for school districts identified under Title III as needing to improve education services and outcomes for ELs.

He recently co-led an exploratory study to define and measure EL linguistic and academic progress as part of the national Title III evaluation, and helped the Los Angeles Unified School District to revise its EL master plan and develop a new EL program evaluation framework.

Since 2001, Linquanti has provided technical assistance to hundreds of California school districts to strengthen their EL assessment, evaluation, and accountability capacity.

He serves on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium EL Advisory Committee; the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Cross-Consortium ELL Assessment Advisory Task Force; the Texas State Assessment Technical Advisory Committee; the California English Language Development Test Technical Advisory Group; the Stanford University Understanding Language Initiative; and the national Working Group on ELL Policy.

He also regularly advises the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Congressional staff, and the National Research Council on assessment and accountability policy and practices related to ELs.

Linquanti has published and presented widely on evaluating EL education policies, EL assessment and reclassification, and improving accountability and equity for ELs. He has also taught as invited faculty at the Aspen Institute and Stanford University.

Prior to joining WestEd in 1992, Linquanti administered and evaluated language training programs for Fulbright grantees with the Institute of International Education; taught English as a second language at the State University of New York (SUNY)-Buffalo and the U.S. Cultural Center in Madrid, Spain; and managed organizational change projects in local government and the private sector.

Linquanti received a BA summa cum laude in English and Spanish linguistics and literature from SUNY-Buffalo; an MPA in public policy analysis from Columbia University, where he was a Columbia Public Service Fellow; and conducted postgraduate work in linguistics at the University of Madrid.