English Language Learners

ELL stands for English Language Learner. It refers to individuals who are in the process of acquiring or improving their proficiency in the English language, typically because it is not their first language. ELLs may include immigrants, refugees, or students from non-English-speaking backgrounds who are receiving instruction and support to help them become proficient in English for educational, social, and professional purposes.

The ACCESS test is a standards-based criterion referenced assessment that is designed to measure English proficiency.  It assesses social and instructional English as well as the language associated with language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies within the school context across the four language domains (speaking, listening, reading, and writing).

 

Why does my child have to take the ACCESS for ELLs assessment? 

Results from the ACCESS test are used to determine English proficiency and the student's need for English learning supports and services at school. Students are tested annually until they have achieved a composite score of 4.8 and are considered to be English proficient.

After screening, the English Learner (EL) teacher will discuss the results with you and may acquire further language background information. They will offer out types of program options for your child. You will also receive a parent notification letter via mail that further details the results and types of services your child will receive.

 

What if I do not what my child to receive EL/Bilingual support?

If you choose, after talking with the EL/Bilingual team about services, that you are still not interested in having your child in the program, you simply need to provide a written refusal letter. Students will not receive services from the EL/Bilingual program; however, they are required each year to take the annual state assessment, ACCESS, until the student meets the state exit criteria.

The child will take the annual state assessment called ACCESS (Accessing Comprehension and Communication in English from State to State). This assessment checks their social and academic English proficiency in the areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The child must receive an overall score of a 5.0 out of 6.0 scale, 4.2 in Writing and 4.2 in Reading. Once they receive all three exit scores, they are no longer considered an EL student by the state. As a district, we must monitor their performance for the next two years. If they need additional support, we will discuss serving them again.

 

My child is in the self-contained bilingual classroom, what happens once they meet the state exit criteria?

Our goal in the district is to build social and academic skills in English and Spanish. If your child meets the state criteria and should be exited per the state, we will highly consider keeping your child in the program in order to maintain their bilingualism. 

Based on the results of the screener or previous school’s ACCESS results, the EL Department and the school’s EL/Bilingual team will review the results and provide the best placement for your child. We offer a few different options as listed below:

 

Transitional Bilingual Education Program (TBE) (self-contained classrooms)
Students whose native language is Spanish have the opportunity to be provided instruction in their native language in all/most of their core subject areas. Their grade level teacher is a certified bilingual teacher and the goal for the students is to acquire their native language academically while growing their English proficiency.

 

Bilingual Resource
Students outside of the self-contained bilingual classroom may receive support from a bilingual (Spanish) certified teacher that pushes in or pulls out of their general education classroom. This teacher works with the classroom teacher to better support the student by providing additional support utilizing the native language while growing English proficiency.

 

ELL Push-in and Pull-out Support:  Parents who refuse Bilingual services at any grade level receive small group and individual support from an ESL (English as a Second Language) certified teacher.  ELL support consists of an interactive computer-based program called Lexia English Development and individual and/or small group direct instruction of the English Language Development Standards.

 

Sheltered Instruction
For our middle school students in the program, the students receive core instruction per subject by an EL/Bilingual certified teacher. The instruction and lessons are set up so students are learning the core material successfully while acquiring English proficiency.

 

Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI)
Students whose language is other than Spanish receive additional support from an EL certified teacher. The teacher works with the classroom teacher to best suit the needs of the student by either pushing in or pulling out to provide additional support.

 

Dual Language 
A Dual Language (DL) program is an Illinois-approved Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) program of instruction for language development when a school has 20+ identified English Learner (EL) students who speak the same non-English language at home.  In Zion 6 we have an English-Spanish Dual Language program.  In a DL program, non-Spanish speaking students have the opportunity to participate in the DL program as an enrichment to general education learning.

In a DL program, instruction and assessment occur in English and Spanish with the goal of developing language proficiency in both languages.  The goal of a Dual Language program is for students to develop bilingualism, biliteracy, and multicultural proficiencies that will enable a pathway of success in college, career, and life.  District 6 currently offers Dual Language in Grades K-5 at both East and West Elementary Schools.

 

Newcomers - Middle School Only
For students who are new to the country from Spanish-speaking countries and have not yet achieved English proficiency, Zion Central Middle School provides support for Newcomers through four courses: World People Studies, Bilingual Language Arts, Language Lab, and Bilingual Social Studies.

 

Parent Refusal of ALL ELL Support
If a parent refuses all English language support, the student must still take the ACCESS Assessment for ELLs annually until s/he achieves a composite score of 4.8 or above.

School Districts that have Transitional bilingual Education (TBE) are required to establish a Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee.  The committee is comprised of parents of children in the TBE program and other interested community members.  The committee meets a minimum of four times per year.  All parents of students in the Bilingual Education Program are invited to become members of the Committee.  Zion 6 has recently teamed with Winthrop Harbor District 1, Beach Park District 3, and Zion Benton Township High School District 126 to establish a Super BPAC!