English EL DCL Fact Sheet

U.S.Department of Education

EnsuringEnglishLearnerStudentsCanParticipate

MeaningfullyandEquallyin EducationalPrograms

IdentifyingandAssessingAllPotentialELStudents

Schooldistrictsmusthaveproceduresinplacetoaccuratelyandtimelyidentify potentialEL students.Mostschooldistrictsusea homelanguagesurveyatthetimeof enrollmenttogatherinformationabouta student’slanguagebackgroundandidentify studentswhoseprimaryorhomelanguageisotherthanEnglish.

SchooldistrictsmustthendetermineifpotentialELstudentsare infactELthrougha validandreliabletestthatassessesEnglishlanguageproficiencyinspeaking,listening, readingandwriting.

ProvidingLanguageAssistancetoELStudents

ELstudentsareentitledto appropriatelanguageassistanceservicestobecome proficientinEnglishandtoparticipateequallyinthestandardinstructionalprogram withina reasonableperiodoftime.

SchooldistrictscanchooseamongprogramsdesignedforinstructingELstudents providedtheprogramiseducationallysoundintheoryandeffectiveinpractice.

StaffingandSupportinganELProgram

ELstudentsareentitledto ELprogramswithsufficientresourcesto ensurethe programsareeffectivelyimplemented,includinghighlyqualifiedteachers,support staff,andappropriateinstructionalmaterials.

SchooldistrictsmusthavequalifiedELteachers,staff,andadministratorsto effectivelyimplementtheirELprogram,andmustprovidesupplementaltraining whennecessary.

ProvidingMeaningfulAccesstoAllCurricularandExtracurricularPrograms

ELstudentsmusthaveaccesstotheirgrade-levelcurriculasothattheycanmeet promotionand graduationrequirements.

ELstudentsareentitledto anequalopportunitytoparticipateinallprograms, includingpre-kindergarten,magnet,giftedandtalented,careerandtechnical education,arts,andathleticsprograms;AdvancedPlacement(AP)andInternational Baccalaureate(IB)courses;clubs;andhonorsocieties.

AvoidingUnnecessarySegregationofELStudents

Schooldistrictsgenerallymaynotsegregatestudentsonthebasisofnationaloriginor ELstatus.AlthoughcertainELprogramsmaybedesignedtorequirethatELstudents receiveseparateinstructionfora limitedportionofthedayorperiodoftime,school districtsandstatesareexpectedtocarryouttheirchosenprogramintheleast segregativemannerconsistentwithachievingtheprogram’sstatededucationalgoals.

EvaluatingELStudentsforSpecialEducationandProvidingDualServices

ELstudentswithdisabilitiesmustbeprovidedboththelanguageassistanceand disability-relatedservicestowhichtheyareentitledunderFederallaw.

ELstudentswhomayhavea disability,likeallotherstudentswhomayhavea disabilityandmayrequireservicesundertheIndividualswithDisabilitiesEducation Act(IDEA)orSection504oftheRehabilitationActof1973,mustbelocated,identified andevaluatedforspecialeducationanddisability-relatedservicesina timelymanner.

ToavoidinappropriatelyidentifyingELstudentsasstudentswithdisabilitiesbecause oftheirlimitedEnglishproficiency,EL studentsmustbeevaluatedinanappropriate languagebasedonthestudent’sneedsandlanguageskills.

Toensurethatanindividualizedplanforprovidingspecialeducationordisability- relatedservicesaddressesthelanguage-relatedneedsofanELstudentwitha disability,itisimportantthattheteamdesigningtheplanincludeparticipants knowledgeableaboutthatstudent’slanguageneeds.

MeetingtheNeedsofStudentsWhoOptOutofEL ProgramsorParticularServices

AllELstudentsareentitledtoservices.Parentsmay,however,chooseto opttheir childrenoutofa schooldistrict’sELprogramor outofparticularELserviceswithinan ELprogram.

Schooldistrictsmaynotrecommendthatparentsoptoutforanyreason.Parentsare entitledtoguidanceina languagethattheycanunderstandabouttheirchild’srights, therangeofELservicesthattheirchildcouldreceive,andthebenefitsof such services.Schooldistrictsshouldappropriatelydocumentthattheparentmadea voluntary,informeddecisionto opttheirchildout.

Aschooldistrictmuststilltakestepstoprovideopted-outEL studentswithaccessto itseducationalprograms,monitortheirprogress,andofferELservicesagainifa studentisstruggling.

MonitoringandExitingELStudentsfromELProgramsandServices

SchooldistrictsmustmonitortheprogressofallEL studentstoensuretheyachieve Englishlanguageproficiencyandacquirecontentknowledgewithina reasonable periodoftime.Districtsmustannuallyadministera validandreliableEnglish languageproficiency(ELP)assessment,in reading,writing,listeningandspeaking, thatisalignedtoStateELPstandards.

AnEL studentmustnotbeexitedfromELprograms,services,orstatusuntilheor she demonstratesEnglishproficiencyonanELPassessmentinspeaking,listening, reading,andwriting.

SchooldistrictsmustmonitortheacademicprogressofformerELstudentsforatleast twoyearstoensurethatstudentshavenotbeenprematurelyexited;anyacademic deficitstheyincurredresultingfromtheELprogramhavebeenremedied;andthey

aremeaningfullyparticipatinginthedistrict’seducationalprogramscomparableto

theirpeerswhowereneverELstudents(never-ELpeers).

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a District’s EL Program

ELprogramsmustbe reasonablycalculatedtoenableELstudentstoattainEnglish proficiencyandmeaningfulparticipationinthestandardeducationalprogram comparabletotheirnever-ELpeers.

Schooldistrictsmustmonitorandcompare,overtime,theacademicperformanceof EL studentsintheprogramandthosewhoexitedtheprogram,relativetothatof their never-ELpeers.

SchooldistrictsmustevaluateELprogramsovertimeusingaccuratedatatoassess theeducationalperformanceofcurrentandformerELstudentsina comprehensive andreliableway,andmusttimelymodifytheirprogramswhenneeded.

EnsuringMeaningfulCommunicationwithLimitedEnglishProficientParents

LEPparentsareentitledto meaningfulcommunicationina languagetheycan understand,suchasthroughtranslatedmaterialsora languageinterpreter,and to adequatenoticeofinformationaboutanyprogram,service,oractivitythatiscalledto theattentionofnon-LEPparents.

FormoreinformationaboutthecivilrightsofLEPparentsandguardiansanddistricts’ specificobligationstoparentsofELstudents,visit

201501.pdf.

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