ESL Program Evaluation

1. ESL Program Evaluation Presented by:Allegheny Intermediate Unit K-12 ESL Department Title III Grant

2. Purpose The purpose of this presentation is to allow school districts to internally review their ESL program. This review will assist in working through compliance issues as well as making programmatic and instructional decisions.

3. ELLs and Enrollment • All students enrolling in the district complete a Home Language Survey. • If this document indicates a language other than English, the student needs to be evaluated in order to determine their English proficiency level. If the district contracts with the AIU, additional documentation will be needed.

4. Types of Instruction • ESL Instruction • Direct instruction by an ESL teacher (pull-out or push-in.) • Adaptations and accommodations made by the regular classroom teacher or content area teachers. • Bilingual Instruction

5. ELP Standards • According to the Basic Education Circular for ELLs, all teachers must incorporate the PA ELP Standards into their planned instruction for ELLs. • The standards can be found: http://www.pde.state.pa.us/esl • Click Resource Documents • Click Language Proficiency Standards for ELLs

6. ELP Standards • Teachers with ELLs in their regular content area classes need to be using the ELP standards as an overlay to the Pennsylvania Academic Standards that they already use to plan for instruction. • These standards will assist teachers in adapting instruction appropriately for the English proficiency level of their ELLs.

7. State Monitoring Forms • Forms can be downloaded by going to: http://www.pde.state.pa.us/esl • Click Resource Documents on the left • Click Post-Exit Monitoring Forms on the left • Download in Word or PDF format

8. State Monitoring Forms • Students who have exited ESL are monitored each nine-week grading period for a period of two years. • The ESL teacher will distribute the form to classroom or content area teachers each quarter. It is important that the teachers take the time to accurately complete the form and promptly return it to the ESL teacher.

9. Exit Criteria • A score of 5.0 or above on Tier C of the ACCESS for ELLs test. • A score of Basic or better on the PSSA test. (In non-PSSA years, another standardized test score can be used.) • Grades of C or better in core content area classes.

10. Guidance • ELLs must receive the same guidance services as all other children. These include but are not limited to: • Guidance in terms of post-secondary planning including SAT assistance. • Access to the same required and elective courses, career/tech ed, technology, and clubs/sports.

11. Collaboration • Collaboration between content area/classroom teachers and the ESL teacher is critical to the progress and success of the student. • Collaboration can take many forms including: • Periodic face-to-face meetings • Regular email correspondence • Dual participation in parent conferences • Weekly progress reports or update notes • Sharing of data and testing performance • Attendance at team/grade level meetings

12. The Library • The library needs to have appropriate selections for ELLs. These might include: • Culturally diverse selections • High interest, lower reading level selections • Materials sensitive to the older student with a lower proficiency level • Selections that support content area subject matter and at a lower reading level

13. Important Components of the BEC • The BEC (Basic Education Circular) provides the guidelines for providing ESL instruction. • The next few slides will highlight some of the critical portions of the document however, it is important to be familiar with the entire document which is available on the CD and at the PDE website.

14. Important Components of the BEC • Parent permission is not required in order to assess a student for English language proficiency. • Parents must be notified of the testing proficiency data and the educational plan for their child. • ESL instruction cannot take place during any other content area class other than English/Language Arts. • ESL instruction must happen daily.

15. Important Components of the BEC • ELLs must be graded using the same grading system as all other students. • A student may not be retained in a grade based solely on his/her lack of English language proficiency. • Special education services do not replace an English language instructional program.

16. Important Components of the BEC • It is highly recommended that the IEP team for an ELL with disabilities include an ESL professional familiar with the student's language needs as well as the nature of his/her disability.

17. Resources • TransAct: http://www.transact.com/index.htm • This website is a free service provided by the state the provides translated documents to school districts. • Login information can be obtained from the district ESL Liaison.

18. Resources • Google Translate: http://translate.google.com. • This is a free service through Google that allows you to type in text and immediately translate it into more than 40 other languages. • This is an excellent tool for communicating with non-English speaking students as well as their families.

19. Contact Information K-12 ESL Office Allegheny Intermediate Unit 475 E. Waterfront Drive Homestead, PA 15120 412-394-5803 or 394-5717 jennifer.beagan@aiu3.net kathleen.carnicella@aiu3.net kelly.noyes@aiu3.net