Identification of Potential English Language Learner Students

Defining the Target Population

Across the nation many terms have been used to refer to students who are in the process of learning English as a second language. In federal documents the common term used to designate these students is Limited English Proficient (LEP). The Mississippi State Department of Education has chosen to refer to these same students as English Language Learners (ELLs). These two terms will be used throughout this document interchangeably.

According to Title VII: Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs, Part E, Section 7501 (8)), a Limited English Proficient (LEP) or an English Language Learner (ELL) may be defined as:

(A) an individual who:

(i) was not born in the United States or whose native language is other than English and comes from an environment where a language other than English is dominant;

(ii) is a Native American of Alaska or who is a native resident of the outlying areas and comes from an environment where a language other than English has had a significant impact on such individual’s level of English language proficiency;

(iii) is migratory and whose native language is other than English and comes from an environment where a language other than English is dominant;

and

(B) who has sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing or understanding the English language and whose difficulties may deny such individual the opportunity to learn successfully in classrooms where the language or instruction is English or to fully participate in our society.

There are many categories of children who cannot effectively learn in English, and would therefore be classified as LEP or ELL. They may be recent immigrants who know little or no English; they may be less recent immigrants who know a bit of the language; they may have been born in the U.S. of immigrant parents who speak their native language at home; they may be children of families who have been in the country for generations but still maintain their heritage language at home. Services must be provided for any of these children who are not able to reach their academic potential due to limits in their command of the English language.

Screening Process

The Lauderdale County School District ELL Plan is designed to meet the unique needs of ELL students. Eligibility for the ELL Program is contingent on the outcome of a multi-phase screening process. This process involves the use of a Home Language Survey, formal assessments of proficiency, and a review of student records from previous schools.

§ Home Language Survey

The first phase of the screening process involves identification of potential ELL students through the use of a Home Language Survey. This survey is given to all incoming students regardless of ethnic background as one element in the general enrollment process. The principal or his/her designee is responsible for ensuring that all students new to the school community complete a Home Language Survey. If a student was enrolled in a feeder school at the end of the previous school year, it is not necessary to administer a Home Language Survey to that student: the Home Language Survey was administered at the feeder school and a copy was placed on file for each student.

Students whose surveys indicate a home language other than or in addition to English are then immediately recommended for further screening by the principal or his/her designee regardless of apparent English proficiency. A copy of the Home Language Survey should be forwarded to the District ELL Coordinator within the first two weeks of a student’s enrollment in the regular academic school year. The principal or his/her designee will notify the District ELL Coordinator, who will arrange for testing to determine the level of English language proficiency. The original Home Language Survey must be placed in the student’s cumulative folder. It is imperative that all personnel involved in student registration are made aware of the district’s policy regarding Home Language Surveys to ensure that the principal is informed whenever a language minority student has enrolled in the school.

Assessment of the Need for English Language Learner Services

Test for English Proficiency

Once a language minority student is identified by the Home Language Survey, the District ELL Coordinator, the ELL teacher, and the principal must determine whether or not testing is needed to ascertain the student’s proficiency in academic English (see table 1). Care must be taken not to misjudge a student’s English proficiency based on that student’s ability to converse in English, as conversational skills in the language do not necessarily indicate academic competence in English. Further, the presence of a language other than English does not automatically signify that the student is not a competent and proficient speaker of English.

The Lauderdale County School District evaluates a student’s English language proficiency utilizing the Mississippi Department of Education’s adopted English language assessment tool. According to Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, parental approval is not required before children are tested for the program. The English Language Proficiency test is administered and scored by a trained evaluator within the first few weeks after enrollment to determine the student’s level of English proficiency before any placement decisions are made.

Personnel in the Lauderdale County School District Assessment Office or from the MDE will train any person designated to administer the English Language Proficiency tool prior to that individual administering the assessment to any student. The designated test administrator will test each student identified for testing on the student’s home campus. The test administrator will use score information provided by the MDE adopted Testing Center to determine if a student should or should not be classified as an ELL student. If a student is identified as ELL in any one of the domains of listening, speaking, reading, writing, or comprehension, the student will be considered an ELL student. The results of the English language proficiency test will be used to help place the student in the appropriate level of English instruction.

The test administrator will give the results of the English language proficiency test to the ELL teacher or to the District ELL Coordinator. The ELL teacher or the District ELL Coordinator will provide a copy of the results to the ELL teacher and/or to the principal at the student’s school. The results of the English language proficiency test will be kept on file. The principal or his/her designee will make the student’s classroom teacher/s fully aware of how the student scored on the English language proficiency test: both overall and in each individual area.

No Child Left Behind requires that all ELL students are tested annually for English language proficiency. The MDE requires that all ELL students are tested in April to determine their level of English language proficiency. The ELL teacher or district designee will administer the MDE adopted English language proficiency test in accordance with MDE State Board Policies and MDE guidelines.

For more information, contact:

Mrs. Cynthia Clymer

ELL Instructor Lauderdale County School District

(601) 485-4882