Programs for English Language Learners Identification of Potential ELL Students

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

This document from the Office for Civil Rights offers guidance on establishing programs for English language learners. This section addresses and describes procedures for identifying ELL students enrolled in a school district.

This section of the ELL plan addresses and describes the district's procedures for identifying students enrolled in the district who may be ELL. The following questions may be used in preparing this section of the plan:

• Does the plan contain a detailed description of the district's procedures for identifying potential ELL students?
• Are the procedures designed to ensure that all students potentially needing ELL services are identified for assessment?
• Is the person(s) responsible for each step in the identification procedures specified in the plan? (For example, the school secretary may be responsible for distributing and collecting home language surveys during enrollment, and the school principal may be responsible for forwarding the surveys to the district's English language assessment specialist.)
• Are the timeframes for each step in the identification procedures set forth in the plan? (For example, completed home language surveys will be forwarded to the English language assessment specialist within ___ school days of a student's enrollment in the district. Surveys will be evaluated within ___ school days.)
• If the district's identification procedures require participation by staff with special skills, such as an interpreter to communicate with ELL parents or students during the enrollment process, does the plan describe how this special staff person is integrated into the identification process?
• Do the identification procedures state the criteria that will be utilized to classify a student as a potential ELL student and, therefore, in need of assessment for English language proficiency?
• Does the ELL plan contain a statement of how the district will maintain documentation of the following: the identification results; determination of the potential ELL status of students; and, referrals of such students for language proficiency assessment?

Source:

Programs for English Language Learners, ELL Plan Outline, U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

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