A new state report titled English Language Learners in Connecticut says a growing number of Connecticut school children speak foreign languages -- but not English.

The number of English Language Learners has increased from 23-thousand to 29-thousand, over the last five years. At the same time the whole school population shrank.

State Education officials discussed the report with superintendents of school from around the state, at a meeting in Cromwell.

State Department of Education Chief of the Bureau of Data Collection Research and Evaluation Sarah Ellsworth says currently, a student could come to the U-S in September, and be required to take a standardized math test in March, which includes a good deal of reading.

Ellsworth says if the students were given more time to acclimate to their new schools, the United States, and to the English language, they might have less anxiety, and do better on standardized tests.

State education officials hope the federal government will allow more time, before newly-arrived students are required to take standardized tests.

Ellsworth says many of the students who speak foreign languages are in inner-city schools, which gives those school systems an added challenge, in addition to educating poor and underprivileged young people.