1. English Language Learners

2. Learn Another Langauge

3. What is an LEP student?
A limited English proficient (LEP) student is defined by the Department of Education as a student whose first language is a language other than English and who is unable to perform ordinary classroom work in English.

4. ESL Statistics
There were over 5,400,000 English as A Second Language (ESL) students in the USA alone in 2006 and the number is increasing. (US Department of Education 2007):
Limited English Proficient (LEP) students are the US fastest-growing population and are expected to make up one out of every four students by 2025.
The number of ESL students in US public schools has almost tripled over the past decade (Goldenberg, 2006).
One-fourth of the school age students in the United States were from homes where a language other than English was spoken. (Crawford 2004)

5. Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence 2002:
The school age population (K-12) will reach about 40% ESL in about 20 years
46% of all schools in the United States have English as a second language students.
Certain states have larger numbers of ESL students:
87% of Arizona schools, 90% of California schools
96% of Hawaii schools have ESL students
Only 18% of all schools offer bilingual education programs and 43% offer ESL programs.

6. History of ELL
Civil Rights Act of 1964 Office of Civil Rights prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin.
1970 Lau V. Nichols, the US Supreme Court directed school districts to take steps to help LEP students overcome language barriers and to ensure that they can participate meaningfully in the district’s educational programs.

7. A Task Force on Children Out of School 1969
The Way We Go to School Report, 1970
The Task Force concluded that there was a minimum of 2,650 Spanish-speaking children who were not being educated
Had the Task Force used the high end figures for the Spanish –speaking population of 32, 000 (by the Mayor’s Office for Human Rights) the total number of children out of school would range as high as 7,8000.
The conclusion was that these thousands of Spanish –speaking children did not attend school primarily because there were no programs for them. BPSD acknowledged this in its Title VII E.S.E.A, Bilingual Education Program Proposal, (BPS, 1968)

8. Federal Regulations
Transitional bilingual education emerged across the country
TBE was a program model in which instruction is provided in the student’s native language decreasing in favor of English instruction as the student gains English proficiency
Under the Federal regulations, districts were required to provide TBE programs if they had 20 students of the same language.
Districts could offer “curriculum offerings of a supportive nature as appropriate”

9. Question 2 became law as Chapter 386 of the Acts of 2002
Referendum in December, and was implemented across the state in the fall of 2003.
The referendum in Massachusetts was part of the U.S. English Only movement that spearheaded successful ballot referendum initiatives in several states under the slogan “English for the children.”
California was the first state to adopt English only in its Proposition 227 in 1998, followed by Proposition 203 in Arizona in 2000.
The 2002 Massachusetts version, Question 2 (often called the Unz Initiative, named after Ron Unz, the California businessman who spearheaded and financed the initiative). (Tung et al., 2009, p. 6)

10. English Immersion http://English as our National Language Debate

11. Question 2
The new law outlawed transitional bilingual education (TBE) unless waivers have been granted.
Two way instructional programs were not affected.
Required that all districts must have certified ESL teachers and provide SEI if they had only 1 student.

12. Sheltered English Immersion
The new instructional model of “English Only”. This is also called structured English immersion.
Required that teachers for pull out instruction in English had to be appropriately instructed (English as A second language certification, or bilingual certification was grandfathered).

13. SEI What type of instruction should LEP students receive?
An SEI program has two components:
English as a second language (ESL)
Sheltered content instruction

14. What is ESL Instruction?
ESL instruction is explicit, direct instruction about the English language intended to promote English Language acquisition by LEP students and to help them “catch up” to their student peers who are proficient in English.

15. Instruction is based on the Department’s English Language Proficiency Benchmarks and outcomes.
Required that all teachers be trained in the four categories of SEI

16. Categories of SEI Category 1 – second language learning and teaching
Category 2 – sheltering content instruction
Category 3 – assessment of speaking and listening
Category 4 – teaching reading and writing to LEP students

17. Annual Assessment
Students must be assessed in reading writing, listening, and speaking English
Students must be assessed using the following assessments
MCAS
MEPA (MA English Proficiency Assessment)
MELA-O – MA English Language Assessment – Oral – Grades K-12
MELA-O can only be administered by trained staff who take MELA-O training

18. US Department of Justice Intervention
Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) category trainings will be affected by the RETELL (Rethinking Equity and Teaching for Eng
Educators who have completed two or more of these trainings will not be required to complete the full course of study approved by the Department to qualify for an SEI Endorsement. Instead, they will be able to qualify for the endorsement by completing a subset of the course that covers only the proposed new knowledge and practice standards that were not addressed by the category trainings they completed. A final draft syllabus for the model SEI Endorsement course will be ready in the near future. English Language Learners) initiative.

19. August 31, 2012.
The Department originally indicated that all category trainings should end no later than June 30, 2012, based upon U.S. Education Department (USED) findings related to Title III funding. However, a recent Department survey completed by many districts revealed the following:
27 districts have scheduled category trainings for almost 800 teachers in summer 2012.
The funding that will be used to pay for most of this training was already budgeted during the current school year and some districts have already executed contracts with vendors to provide these trainings.
20 of the 27 districts will use funding other than federal Title III funds to pay for these category trainings.

20. What is RETELL?
RETELL stands for "Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners."
It is the name for the new approach that the Department is designing to transform the teaching of English language learners (ELLs) in the Commonwealth.
It combines a new system of curriculum standards and assessment (see question A5), endorsement and licensure requirements, professional development, and related supports for core academic teachers of ELLs and the administrators who support and supervise them (principals, assistant principals and supervisor-directors).
RETELL is one of several efforts being undertaken by the Department to close the proficiency gap that exists among some groups of students.

21. Why is RETELL happening?
ELL’s are our state's fastest growing student subgroup and the "proficiency gap" is greatest and most persistent for these students.
Our state has well defined standards and supports for ESL teachers, however, this is not the case for SEI teachers. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) developed a program of professional development called "category trainings" (four workshops, known as categories, to impart the skills and knowledge required by content teachers to meet the needs of ELLs), but the Department did not require that every SEI teacher complete these categories. Further, the trainings have been of uneven quality and after ten years, no longer reflect the latest research and best practices for teaching ELLs.
This past summer (2012) the U.S. Department of Justice raised these same and additional concerns about the category training program and determined that our state's failure to ensure that every ELL was taught by a teacher with the knowledge and skills to effectively provide SEI instruction constituted a violation of these ELLs' civil rights. As educators, we are professionally, morally and legally committed to ensure equal and effective instruction for every English language learner.

22. What are the timelines for RETELL
We expect to be ready by the fall of 2012 to deliver the course to the first of four cohorts of SEI teachers who will be trained over the four- year period extending from September 2012 through June 2016.
Participants in the first cohort group will be from districts with the highest incidence of ELLs and the lowest ELL student performance.
The last cohort will consist primarily of those teachers who are employed by districts with the lowest incidence of ELLs and highest ELL student performance.
The new requirements for educator preparation programs must be met by July 1, New requirements for earning, advancing, or renewing a license must be met on or after 7/1/2014. A plan for deploying and supporting new SEI resources for professional learning communities and coaching will ready for review and comment in January 2013.

23. What is WIDA? World Class Instructional Design and Assessment
(WIDA) is a national consortium made up of 27 states that have adopted a system of curriculum standards and assessment for ELLs.
In Massachusetts, the WIDA standards will replace the English Language Proficiency Benchmarks and Outcomes (ELPBO) as the new state standards for English language development beginning with the 2012/2013 school year.
WIDA also utilizes an assessment tool called the ACCESS (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners), which measures English language proficiency and is aligned with the WIDA standards. ACCESS will replace the MEPA (Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment – final administration spring 2012).

24. Why is WIDA happening?
Due to Massachusetts' adoption of the Common Core and the consequent development of the new state frameworks, the English Language Proficiency Benchmarks and Outcomes (ELPBO) document was no longer in alignment.
Further, the ELPBO had been aligned only to English language arts and did not serve the function of preparing ELLs to learn the English of other content areas.
WIDA offers us the valuable opportunity to teach the academic language of each subject matter area: English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, as well as social and instructional language.

25. Things seemed to be working as they were
Things seemed to be working as they were. Why is DESE changing so much of the teaching, learning and assessment processes for ELLs?
English Language Learners comprise the fastest growing segment of our student population.
In 2003, the ELL population was still below 50,000; by 2011 it had grown to 72,000.
ELLs are now living in every corner of the state and in districts where there wasn’t a history of educating ELLs.
There has been emerging research on best practices for teaching ELLs since the original category trainings were implemented.
Also, the United States Department of Justice concluded that Massachusetts wasn’t meeting its responsibility to ensure that every ELL has a teacher who has the knowledge and skills to meet his or her learning needs.

26. What will the new SEI professional development / SEI course of study consist of?
The new professional development will consist of a course of study (online and face-to-face blend) that will cover three major components: Socio-emotional/Socio-cultural Considerations, Second Language Acquisition/English Language Development, and Sheltering Content in the Teaching of Academic Language.

27. WIDA & ACCESS Timelines
When are the timelines for adoption of the WIDA standards and administration of the ACCESS assessment?
We expect to adopt the WIDA standards this spring. The new standards will be implemented in September of 2012, and the first administration of the ACCESS will be in January 2013.

28. What impact will RETELL have on me as an educator?
If you are a core academic teacher (defined in the proposed regulations as early childhood, elementary, teachers of students with moderate and severe disabilities, English, reading language arts, mathematics, science, civics and government, economics, history and geography) you will be required to earn the SEI Teacher Endorsement.
If you are a principal, assistant principal, or supervisor-director who supports and supervises core academic teachers, you will be required to earn the SEI Administrator Endorsement.
All educators licensed at the Professional stage will be required to earn a minimum of 15 PDPs related to ESL/SEI (and 15 PDPs related to special education) to renew that license in every renewal cycle ending on or after July 1, 2014.
All core academic teachers should be aware that beginning July 1, 2016, no district will be able to assign you to a classroom with an ELL if you do not have an SEI endorsement or will meet the requirements within a year.

29. MCAS All LEP students must take MCAS.
Department guidelines allow students who are in their first year in the country to forego the ELA grade 3 reading and ELA MCAS in grades 4,7,and 10.
Students in their first year in the country who take these tests will not be included in the district disaggregated student totals for this subgroup.
All students will take MCAS math and science / technology/ engineering regardless of then they arrive in the United States.

30. Spanish speaking LEP students in grade 10 who have been enrolled in school in the continental US for fewer than three years may choose to take the English /Spanish version of the grade 10 Mathematics retest if he/ she can write in Spanish or near grade level.
English/Spanish versions of the Mathematics test are available for the grade 10 test and retest only.
The designated test administrator must be fluent in both English and Spanish.

31. Any student who is currently LEP or has been identified as LEP in the past may use an approved bilingual word-to-word dictionary on MCAS tests.
Dictionaries that include definitions, synonyms, antonyms, phrases and other information are strictly prohibited.
A list of approved dictionaries is available on the DESE website.
LEP students may receive additional accommodations if they have 504 plans or IEPs.

32. Massachusetts English Language Assessment-Oral (MELA-O)
Assessed LEP students' proficiency in listening (comprehension) and speaking (production) at grades K-12.
Measures five levels of proficiency: beginning, early intermediate, intermediate, transitioning, proficient
Measures the following domains: Grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension

33. Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment-R/W (MEPA-R/W)
Assesses LEP students' proficiency in reading and writing at grades K-12.
LEP students with disabilities must take the MEPA test unless the student has the following disabilities because the MEPA accommodations are not available in
Braille
Electronic text reader
Are identified as deaf or hard of hearing
Deaf or hard of hearing LEP students are not required to take the MELA-O
WILL BE REPLACED BY WIDA Jan

34. If a parent declines a language support program the student is still considered LEP and must be serviced and provided supports.
Districts are responsible for reporting LEP student enrollment numbers to the SIMS (Student Information Management System).

35. Initial Identification
District’s must screen ALL students for home language not English.
Home Language Survey
District must assess students in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Common assessments are the LAS-O, IPT-O (speaking & Listening), LAS –R/W (reading and writing).
Districts can devise their own assessments.
District’s may not use MELA-O for identification purposes.

36. Waiver Procedures
Districts must have a waiver policy and criteria under which they will approve or disapprove waiver requests for children who are under 10 years of age, and for children over 10 years of age. All districts, regardless of the size of their LEP population must have waiver policies and approval criteria. The district is required to provide a transitional bilingual or other type of bilingual program to students on approved waivers when the number or approved waivers reach 20 students in a particular grade, who speak the same language.

37. Program Placement & Structure
Students receive pull out instruction in English
Beginning and early intermediate students at all levels should receive 2.5 hours
per day delivered by an ESL or ELL licensed teacher
LEP students at the intermediate level are required to receive 1-2 hours /day
Sheltered English Immersion
General education classrooms in which LEP students are “mainstreamed” are not considered SEI classrooms if the teacher does not have the qualifications or required licenses.

38. FLEP student
Former Limited English Proficient student fails to make academic progress as measured by grades and assessments during the first 3-6 months after not being classified as LEP, the student’s instructional programming should be redesigned and the student should be considered for reclassification of LEP.

39. Program Exit and Readiness
Districts establish their own entrance and exit criteria for their English language learner programs.
They should consider English proficiency test scores (MELA-0 MEPA, MCAS) grades, teacher & curriculum based assessments, writing samples, and teacher recommendations.

40. Parent Involvement
The district is required to actively bring LEP students in the educational decision – making process. Does the district have mechanisms to engage the parents of LEP students in the life of the school?
Interpreters, translation of documents newsletters, mentoring programs within the community, outreach

41. Declining Entry into a Program
Declining entry is the same as “opting out”. Parents may opt out of ELL programs however the district is still required to provide services and an SEI program.

42. Instructional Grouping
Students should be placed in age- appropriate classrooms and receive age appropriate material.
Instruction and curriculum should be based on the Frameworks and the English language Proficiency Benchmarks and Outcomes.

43. Parent Notification
This letter must be provided to parents annually and must include:
a) The reasons for identification of the student as LEP.
b) The child’s level of English proficiency.
c) Program placement and / or the method of instruction used in the program.
d) How the program will meet the educational strengths and needs of the student.
e) How the program will specifically help the child learn English.
f) The specific exit requirements.
g) The parents right to apply for a waiver, or to decline to enroll their child in the program.

44. Parent Letter must be in the parent’s native language.
Progress reports are required with the same frequency as general education students. Progress must specifically address progress in reading, writing, speaking, and listening of English.
Report Cards must be translated.

45. Civil Rights Law
Requires that student codes of conduct, due process procedures and school discipline information be translated into native language of LEP students.

46. Equal Access to Academic Programs and Services
LEP students must have equal access to all programs and services: advanced placement classes, Title 1, tutoring, 504 plans, IEPs, gifted programs, etc.
LEP students should receive credit and grades for their work.

47. Equal Access to Nonacademic and Extracurricular Programs
Are LEP students actively recruited to participate in clubs, sports, and other activities.
If students are not educated in their home schools is transportation a factor barring access?

48. Follow Up Support - All FLEP students must be monitored for two years.
If the district has more than 200 LEP students there must be an ELE director who is employed one – half the time or more.
Teachers must be ESL, ELL certified.

49. Professional Development
Does the district implement a professional development plan that provides high quality training to teachers in the four categories?

50. Equitable Facilities
Are LEP students education in classrooms comparable to those of the English speaking peers?
Do ELL classrooms have computers, textbooks, materials, etc.

51. Program Evaluation
The ELL program must be evaluated annually to assess the effectiveness of its ELE program.
SIMS data – is the SIMS data reflective of their number of LEP students and their program placement.

52. Records of LEP Students
Student records must contain the following Information:
annual assessments
Home language survey
Previous schooling documentation (records and transcripts)
Copies of parent notification letter
Progress reports on student progress acquiring English
Report cards (translated if parents can’t read English
Monitoring plans for FLEP students

53. LEP Graduation Requirements
All LEP students are required to earn a Competency Determination.
Meet all local graduation requirements regardless of the number of years a student has been enrolled in the US schools.
To earn a competency Determination, all students must receive a minimum scaled score of 240 or higher on the MCAS grade 10 ELA and Math test.
Students who fail one or both grade 10 tests will have multiple opportunities to take retests in math and ELA.

54. LEP students may need to continue their education beyond grade 12 in order to attain the requisite knowledge and skills in English and math.
After grade 12 students who need to pass one or more MCAS tests required for graduation can take the MCAS retest in the school in which they were last enrolled.

55. Common Compliance Issues
Common ELE violations that intersect with Civil Rights:
Accessibility: facilities, honors advanced placement programs, structured learning time, credits, information translated into other languages other than English, handbook requirements,  disproportionally, transportation to program schools after school activities).

56. In the Aftermath of Question 2: Students with Limited English Proficiency in Massachusetts
LEP students, compared to the English proficient peers had a 16% higher suspension rates in 2006 and a quarter higher in 2008.
LEP students are more likely to repeat a grade and to drop out of high school.
The dropout gap increased noticeably and by 2008 was more than three times as higher than English proficient peers.
The most dramatic difference from previous Chapter 71 A legislation in 1971 and the implementation of Question 2 is that districts have implemented programs for LEP students, 81.1 percent of the state’s LEP students attended sheltered English classrooms and 70% of school districts in the state had 90 % or more of their LEP students in SEI programs.

57. Dream America Bill
HR 51.31
To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children, and for other purposes.