Representing an estimated 4.4 million students in the United States, English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the public school population and yet are twice as likely to drop out of high school and significantly less likely to attend and complete postsecondary education. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes explicit new provisions related to ELL students and more generally offers greater flexibility that states can use to serve these students better. This policy update is part of a series that suggests strategies that state boards of education can use to address the challenges and inequities facing some of the most disenfranchised, at-risk student populations in the country. State boards of education should make the most of ESSA's explicit provisions on ELL success and the added flexibility the law provides generally. No one policy will address the challenges these students face. Rather, states must build a system that addresses the gap in expectations facing ELL students, ELL student diversity, English language proficiency, and the capacity of educators to address ELL challenges. [For the other policy updates in this series, see "ESSA and Homeless Youth. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 18" (ED571531); "ESSA and Migrant Youth. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 19" (ED571524); "ESSA and Students with Disabilities. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 20" (ED571526); and "ESSA and Students in Foster Care. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 22" (ED571528).]