EL stands for English Learner.  Pennsylvania is transitioning from No Child Left Behind to the (ESSA) Every Student Success Act.  The title has changed to EL English Learners (EL) – Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students.  Our EL program is Pre-K-12. The program facilitates English language acquisition through communication skills of comprehension through listening, speaking, reading, and writing; ensures an effective and meaningful participation in regular education; and facilitates the acculturation process in a complex society that is multicultural by exposing students to the customs, traditions, and expectations of their new environment. Students are taught by certified EL teachers in language development in the four domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Our EL students come from many different countries including: Angola, Bangladesh, Egypt, Haiti, Ghana, Nigeria, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico and Puerto Rico, to name a few.

Title III is a supplemental language instruction for limited English proficient and immigrant students.  Funds are used to support a wide array of educational services for limited English proficient and immigrant students and their families.

• EL/SPED PSSA Saturday School
• EL/Migrant Summer School
• Teacher Professional Development
• Supplemental Materials
• Parent Involvement
• Equitable Services to Non-Publics

School districts are required to continue to provide instructional and appropriate educational services to English learners until they have demonstrated valid and reliable evidence of a student’s English language proficiency to exit from an English language instructional program.

To meet the required state exit criteria for Pennsylvania English language instructional programs for ELs, LEAs must ensure that students meet both required exit criteria listed below and meet one additional exit criteria listed below to exit from an English language instructional program.

Required Exit Criteria:

• For Kindergarten students– overall composite proficiency level score of 5.0 on an ACCESS for ELs Kindergarten assessment (accountability score).

For grades 1-12 – overall composite proficiency level score of 5.0 on Tier C ACCESS for ELs 2.0 assessment.

• Score of BASIC on the annual PSSA math or Algebra I Keystone AND PSSA ELA or Literature Keystone.

Additional Exit Criteria:

• Final grades of C or better in core subject areas (Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies).

Scores on district-wide or local assessment that are comparable to the BASIC performance level on the Math PSSA or Algebra I Keystone AND PSSA ELA or Literature Keystone assessments.

Monitoring is required for two years after a student has exited an ESL/Bilingual program and appropriate records of student progress must be maintained.  20 U.S.C. §6841(a)(4).

ACCESS for ELs 2.0 is a secure large-scale English language proficiency assessment administered to Kindergarten through 12th grade students who have been identified as English Learners (ELs). It is given annually in WIDA Consortium member states to monitor students’ progress in acquiring academic English.

In 2007 the USDE released guidance on participation of LEP students (ELs) in state assessments. This flexibility allows ELs students in their first 12 months of enrollment in U.S. schools an option of taking the Reading PSSA. A student’s enrollment in a school in Puerto Rico is not to be considered as enrollment in a U.S. school.

ELs who fall into the first category are considered to be in their first year in a U.S. school and are not required to take the PSSA ELA test. All ELs are required to participate in the Mathematics PSSA and the Science PSSA with accommodations as appropriate. All ELs, K-12, are required to take the WIDA ACCESS for ELs 2.0 English Proficiency Test.

The Mathematics PSSA scores of ELs in their first year of enrollment in U.S. schools as defined above will not be used to determine performance (the percent proficient or higher) for federal accountability status. Their participation will be counted for federal accountability purposes.

Should first-year ELs choose to participate in the ELA PSSA assessment, their performance will not be included but their participation will be counted for federal accountability purposes. Should they choose not to participate, their lack of participation will not count against the school or district. Students who are expected to exit EL services in the current school year should be encouraged to take the ELA PSSA.

When students know how to read in Spanish they have content area knowledge in Spanish. Several skills can easily transfer from one language to the other. Research tells us that when your students are fully literate in Spanish, they will learn how to read in English more quickly and will transfer some of their literacy skills from Spanish to English.

ELs who are not literate in Spanish take longer to learn to read in English. There are a number of factors that can help speed up their process of learning to read in English. These factors include how much time you spend on daily reading, the reading strategies you use to teach ELs, how much reading is done at home, and how much help you receive from the ELs’ parents or guardians.

Parents who read in Spanish can be very helpful in the development of their children’s literacy skills. Their Spanish literacy becomes the foundation that will help your ELs learn to read in English. Through Spanish reading, ELs are developing their background knowledge and key vocabulary and literacy skills that will enable them to become excellent readers in English.