Written Plan of EL Services

St. Michael-Albertville School District

Program Description

The English Language Learners (ELL) program in District 885 supports learners in acquiring the English needed to succeed in the classroom, in accordance with the State of Minnesota Guidelines and English Language Proficiency Standards.  Instruction in speaking, listening, reading and writing is provided by licensed ELL instructors for students whose first language is not American English.  Paraeducators and specially trained teachers also support classroom instruction for ELL students.

ELL Identification

In Minnesota, an ELL is defined as a learner who:

• first learned a language other than English, comes from a home where a language other than English is usually spoken, or does not use English as a primary language;
• lacks the necessary English skills to fully participate in classes taught in English.

Part (a) is measured by a home language questionnaire (HLQ) which must be given to every student entering the district for the first time.  Part (b) is determined by developmentally appropriate measures and practices, which include observations, teacher judgment, parent recommendations, and/or  the WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT).

The W-APT is a comprehensive assessment aligned to English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards which gives educators and parents information about the ELP level of ELLs in the areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

All ELL students are assessed on an annual basis using the ACCESS for ELLs assessment to determine growth and progress toward proficiency.

Identification, Entrance and Exit Procedures

Step 1:  Identification

Home Language Questionnaire or teacher referral indicates possible ELL status. If there is no ACCESS test data in the student’s cumulative record, the W-APT assessment is administered.

Step 2:  Program Entrance           

If the student is not proficient in all areas of the ACCESS or W-APT assessment, he/she meets state criteria for ELL service.

Step 3:  Parent Notification

Parents are notified of student placement in EL services within 10 days of enrollment.   Reasons for identification, student proficiency levels in listening, speaking, reading and writing, the amount of time and type of ELL services, exit requirements, and graduation rate of ELL’s in the district are included in the notification.  Parents retain the right to refuse service.

Step 4:  Service

ELL services support the student in listening, speaking, reading and writing in the following five

areas:

• Social & Instructional Language
• Language of Language Arts
• Language of Mathematics
• Language of Science
• Language of Social Studies

Step 5:  Annual Progress Evaluations

Ongoing assessment will determine continued ELL services.  ELLs participate in statewide English language proficiency assessments (ACCESS), MN Comprehensive Assessments in Reading and Mathematics (MCAs), district achievement assessments (MAP) as well as classroom assessments in English language development, reading, math, science and social studies.

Step 6:  Program Exit     

When the student scores proficient in listening, speaking, reading and writing of English on the

state assessment (ACCESS), he/she is monitored and exited from EL service. 

Step 7:  Reclassification as no longer LEP

A student is reclassified as no longer LEP after exiting ELL programming

ELL Programs

District 885’s ELL Department offers content-based ELL instructional programs which promote students’ English Language Proficiency and build academic content knowledge by integrating subject areas with language acquisition strategies.  ELL students acquire English through participation in age-appropriate instruction aligned to district content standards as well as English language proficiency standards.  The primary objective of teaching language through content is to make the curriculum available to students at all levels of English proficiency.

At the elementary level, general education and ELL licensed teachers collaborate to teach language through content using district curriculum supported by second language acquisition strategies.  ELL teachers provide support primarily in English language arts, but may provide additional support in other content areas.

At a secondary level, students receive needs-based ELL services within the classroom environment.   These services are provided by a licensed EL teacher, a paraeducator or a specially trained subject area teacher.  In addition, some students participate in a course with embedded language development goals.  The primary purpose of the course is assist students in their language acquisition development in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

In all programs, teachers and paraeducators provide linguistic, graphic, visual, kinesthetic, interactive and emotional supports to make content standards and curriculum accessible for ELLs at all levels of proficiency.

Exit Criteria

Students exited from direct service English language instruction programming should be able to perform in the general education program without significant barriers primarily caused by limited English proficiency.  Students will be exited from ELL programming if and when they meet the following criteria:

•  Performing at or above grade level in reading as measured by MAP and/or MCA assessments.
• Maintaining a 70% or higher score in mainstream classes.

Scoring at a level 6.0 in all modalities (reading, writing, listening, speaking) as measured by the ACCESS.