English Learners

District 34 is committed to providing a high-quality English Learners (ELs) program that values a student's native language and culture.

Only sound acquisition of linguistic, academic, and social skills ensures your child's equal participation in our diverse society.

Did you know that nearly 37% of our students come from homes where a language other than English is spoken
61 languages are spoken in the homes of our students
16% of our student population qualify for additional EL support

Introduction

Value Statements

District 34 values the use of the first language, when possible, to develop proficiency in English as evidenced by growth of our bilingual program. District 34 can further facilitate maintenance of the first language by providing students opportunities to master concepts and literacy in their native language and encourage the continued use of the first language in the home.

District 34 values the development of English language proficiency, academic and social language as evidenced by instruction in academic vocabulary, balanced literacy and comprehension skills. It is also evidenced by providing hands-on learning opportunities and making connections to the child’s background knowledge. District 34 can further facilitate the development of English language proficiency through grouping students based on best practice research. Collaboration time between ELL and general education staff also ensures the alignment of the academic content with WIDA standards.

District 34 values the education of ELs in the academic core curriculum in tandem with the development of English language proficiency. District 34 can further facilitate instruction in the areas of language and content through collaboration between ELL and general education staff and the increased use of best practices in instruction of ELs.

District 34 values the diversity of our student population as evidenced by the District 34 Vision Statement. District 34 can further facilitate the value of our students’ culture through professional development for staff, increasing diverse literature, and celebrating our richly diverse community at the student, classroom, building and district level.

District 34 values parent involvement and providing opportunities for the parents of EL students to participate in their children’s educational experience as evidenced by parent evenings and trainings held exclusively for EL parents. District 34 can further facilitate parent involvement by providing opportunities for parents to be involved in hands on experiences, recognizing the cultural differences that may impact parental involvement and reducing the barriers to parent involvement.

Service Overview

Services Provided by Language Proficiency Level

Level 1 - Entering

Level one students at all grade levels focus on the development of basic interpersonal communicative English and are introduced to academic language through speaking, listening, reading and writing instruction. Students receive predominantly pull-out instruction from the EL teacher. Kindergarten students receive five periods of service a week. Students in grades 1-8 receive 15 to 18 periods of service per week.

Level 2 - Beginning

Level two students at all grade levels focus on oral language acquisition and continue to develop academic language through speaking, listening, reading and writing instruction. Students receive predominantly pull-out instruction from the EL teacher. Kindergarten students receive five periods of service a week. Students in grades 1-8 receive 13 to 15 periods of service per week.

Level 3 - Developing

Level three students at all grade levels continue to develop and apply academic language through speaking, listening, reading and writing instruction. Students receive a combination of pull-out and push-in instruction from the EL teacher. Kindergarten students receive two periods of service a week. Students in grades 1-8 receive seven to ten periods of service per week.

Level 4 - Expanding

Level 5 - Bridging

Program Options

Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI)
Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE)

Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI)

The Transitional Program of Instruction in District 34 is delivered through pull-out, push-in, and collaboration services. Each building in District 34 provides TPI. The goal of a TPI program is to support English language development in the areas of reading, writing , listening and speaking. Students in the Transitional Program of Instruction spend the majority of their day in the general education classroom. The ELL teachers provide instruction to students based on their English language proficiency level, with a gradual decrease of support as students increase proficiency. Teachers provide instruction in the TPI in English, but when a teacher or paraprofessional who speaks a student’s native language is available, the native language may be used for clarification.

Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE)

District 34 currently offers Spanish Bilingual education in Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 4th grade. The bilingual classes are housed at Henking and Hoffman schools, but can include students from Lyon, Westbrook, Glen Grove and Pleasant Ridge. The goal of our bilingual program is for students to be bilingual and bi-literate in Spanish and English by 5th grade. Students in the bilingual classrooms are instructed in the same curriculum as their monolingual English peers, using materials in the native language. Gradually instruction in English is introduced to students, based on student readiness. Students will continue to receive literacy instruction in Spanish through 5th grade, in addition to instruction in all curricular areas, including literacy in English.

EL Development Standards

EL Teachers in D34 utilize the WIDA ELD Standards to instruct students in grade-level content standards. They use both sets of standards in their instructional planning to help linguistically scaffold learning for students so that they can access their grade-level content areas, just like their monolingual peers.

Standard		Abbreviation
English Language Development Standard 1	English language learners communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting	Social and Instructional language
English Language Development Standard 2	English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts	The language of Language Arts
English Language Development Standard 3	English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics	The language of Mathematics
English Language Development Standard 4	English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science	The language of Science
English Language Development Standard 5	English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies	The language of Social Studies

Identification

Student Identification

Student Identification

When students are registered for school in District 34, parents complete a Home Language Survey. Students who have a language other than, or in addition to, English spoken at home, as indicated on the Home Language Survey, are screened by the EL staff using the MODEL or W-APT screener.

Grade	Test Type	Cut Score
1st semester of Kindergarten	WIDA MODEL (listening and speaking)	5.0 oral language proficiency
2nd semester of Kindergarten - 1st semester of 1st grade	WIDA MODEL (all four domains)	Overall Composite 5.0 & Composite Literacy 4.2 (reading/writing)
2nd semester of 1st grade - 12th grade	WIDA Screener (online or paper)	Overall Composite 5.0

Parents of students eligible for EL services will be notified by letter of their child’s eligibility and the EL Program they will receive. If there are questions about the assessment results or the services offered, parents are encouraged to contact the EL staff at their child’s building.

Assessment

In addition to assessments taken by all District 34 students, EL and Bilingual students will all take the ACCESS (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State) test annually. ACCESS is an English language proficiency test given annually to measure a student's progress and proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking in English. ACCESS is a required assessment in the state of Illinois for all students eligible for EL services and is given during January and February.

EL and Bilingual students also participate in all standardized assessments district-wide including: NWEA, PARCC, Aimsweb- R-CBM and M-CBM, and STAR (Kindergarten only) Students in our bilingual Spanish classrooms also participate in progress monitoring of reading skills in Spanish and the MIDE. They are assessed on Spanish comprehension on the nationally normed Aprenda exam in the fall and spring.

Aprenda 3 is a standardized assessment that assesses our K-5 bilingual students who are in our Spanish Bilingual Program. Aprenda 3 measures the academic achievement of our Spanish-speaking students in their native language of Spanish. This assessment is similar to NWEA MAP testing in that it is designed to meet requirements for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The questions on the assessment specifically assess all content areas; it is composed of grade-level appropriate content and is nationally normed. The test was developed by Latino educators and offers the highest quality, most culturally inclusive Spanish-language test of academic standards.

Exit Criteria

EL exit criteria established by the Illinois State Board of Education mandates that students obtain an overall composite proficiency level of 4.8 on the ACCESS assessment. In addition to a student’s ACCESS score, we use NWEA, AIMSWEB data, and feedback from teachers and parents to determine a student's readiness to exit from EL services.

ISBE requires all students who exit the EL program to be monitored by the EL team in order to oversee student progress for five years.

At any time, a parent may decline EL services offered to their child. Parents must indicate this request in writing to their child’s EL teacher. Students who are eligible for service, but who do not receive service per a parental request, must continue to take ACCESS annually until they earn a 4.8 overall composite score, per the Illinois State Board of Education.

Additional Information & Resources

Online Resources & Professional Links

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