English Language Learners

Chelmsford ELL
Department
REGULATIONS AND EXPECTATIONS
DR. KATIE NOVAK
ELL DIRECTOR
Assessment
 When students enroll in school, parents fill out a
Home Language Survey. If any language other than
English is spoken at home, students must be assessed
by a ELL teacher with an ESL license.
 This is true even when students are born in the US.
 Students can also be assessed if teachers fill out the
Teacher Referral Form (on intranet).
 Students are given a variety of assessments which
measure language proficiency in all language
domains, in both social and academic contexts
(reading, writing, speaking, and listening.)
Assessment Results
After testing, students are identified as:
 Level 1-Entering: Student does not understand or speak
English with the exception of a few isolated words.
 Level 2-Beginning: Student is pre-emergent in reading and
writing in English, significantly below grade level.
 Level 3-Developing: Student is developing reading
comprehension and writing skills in English, with assistance.
 Level 4-Expanding: The pupil understands and speaks
conversational English without apparent difficulty, but
understands and speaks academic English with hesitancy.
 Level 5-Bridging: Student is near proficient in reading,
writing, and content area skills needed to meet grade level
expectations.
 Level 6: Student is proficient and meets grade level
expectations. No need for ELL services.
Legal Requirements after Identification
 By law, ELE students in Levels 1-5 must receive
instruction from ELL teachers using the English
Language Proficiency Benchmarks and Outcomes (71A)
using ELL curriculum (71A).
 Students may not receive this instruction during nonacademic or extracurricular time (603 CMR26.06).
 The MA DESE recommends ELE students receive 5-10
hours of instruction a week. This must be from a teacher
with an ESL license. (71.38G)
 This is why ELL teachers must pull students from
core classes.
ELL Curriculum
 When students are receiving ELL instruction, they are
working toward English Language Proficiency
Benchmarks and Outcomes using an adopted
curriculum that is both Common Core and WIDA
aligned.
 This curriculum is focused more on the use of language
than conceptual knowledge.
 Supporting students with language acquisition is the
best way to help students succeed academically.
 If ELL teachers and classroom teachers choose to coteach, co-planning is also a requirement to incorporate
English Language Proficiency Benchmarks and
Outcomes.
What does ELL Curriculum look like?
 ELL teachers design curriculum to help students
learn about linguistic and metalinguistic
verbalization.
 Focus on phonemic, semantic, syntactic, morphemic,
and pragmatic knowledge to help students read,
write, listen, and speak in English.
 Teach about vertical and horizontal register
(language used in varying degrees or formality and
slang/jargon/etc..) and its acceptable use in English.
How is ELL different from SEI?
 An ELL teacher provides direct instruction in
language acquisition, separate from learning specific
content. ELL teachers must focus on the English
Language Proficiency Benchmarks and Outcomes
and the Common Core standards in ELA.
 All classrooms teachers with ELL students are
teaching in a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI)
classroom. RETELL will instruct classroom teachers
to design curriculum so rigorous content is accessible
to English learners. Teachers focus on Common Core
standards and state frameworks.
Any questions?
Please contact Katie Novak, ELL
Director.
Phone:
978-251-5111 ext. 5520
Email:
[email protected]

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