Title III: Multilingual Language Learners

ELD (English Language Development) teachers will follow the statewide procedure for all Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs) that was approved by ODE. The Language Use Survey (LUS) will be completed for all students on the enrollment form upon entry to their home district. If a language other than English is listed on the LUS, the ELD teacher will proceed to investigate the student’s status and decide if the ELPA Screener is an appropriate next step to ensure that the student will receive appropriate language instruction. 

The ELD Teacher will verify a student’s English language eligibility, ineligibility, proficiency, or need to be assessed through investigation:

• If the student was previously enrolled in an Oregon School District the teacher will refer to the ODE EL History Report or contact the previous school district to obtain
  • most recent ELPA Screener assessment scores or
  • most recent ELPA Summative assessment scores
• If the student is enrolling for the first time in a public Oregon school and is coming from another ELPA state: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Washington, or West Virginia
  • ELPA Screener or Summative scores will be accepted if provided by parents
  • If scores are:
    • not available; student will be administered the ELPA Screener
    • over one year old; student will be administered the ELPA Screener
• If the student is enrolling for the first time in a public Oregon school and is NOT coming from another ELPA state the student will be administered the ELPA Screener.

Pull-Out: MLLs spend most of their day in a content based classroom, and are “pulled out” for a portion of the day to receive targeted ELD instruction.

ELD Class Period: MLLs receive their ELD instruction during a regular class period and also receive course credit for the class. 

Co-Teaching/Push In: ELD Instruction is provided within the student’s content classroom. An ELD teacher is present during that instruction and supports, teaches, and collaborates with the classroom teacher to generate appropriate targeted instruction for language learners.

Sheltered Instruction: Teachers use instructional strategies and tools to deliver grade level subject matter, such as Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies, to make language more visible and therefore more comprehensible in the classroom. MLLs learn content alongside their monolingual peers using appropriate scaffolding, academic discourse strategies, and visuals to access content.

Districts use ELPA Summative results to determine when an MLL is Proficient. Any MLL who scores any combination of 4s and 5s in their Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking language domains is considered proficient, and will be exited from the program and monitored for four years.

The ELPA21 assessment system measures a student’s proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, listening to, and understanding English. It comprises two assessments: the screener assessment and the summative assessment.

ELPA21’s screener assessment is used to identify students who may qualify as Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs). It is given either at the beginning of the school year or at the time a student arrives at a new school system. Students who qualify as MLLs as a result of the ELPA21 screener assessment are placed into their school’s ELD program and receive supplemental English learning support throughout the school year.

At the end of each school year, all designated MLLs are required to take the ELPA21 summative assessment. Results from that assessment are used to determine whether a student still qualifies as a Multilingual Language Learner or whether a student has achieved a sufficient level of proficiency in English so that he or she no longer needs support and can exit the school’s ELD program.

The ELPA21 assessment is different from standard classroom tests. Instead of measuring a student’s knowledge of academic content, ELPA21 measures a student’s ability to understand and communicate in English. Performance on the ELPA21 screener and summative assessments will not affect your student’s grades, your student’s subject-based test scores, or your school’s overall state performance rating. Results from the ELPA21 assessment are used to determine whether a student qualifies for English support services and what types of services might be needed.

Emerging

Students are Emerging when they have not yet attained a level of English language skill necessary to produce, interpret, and collaborate on grade-level content‐related academic tasks in English. This is indicated on ELPA21 by attaining a profile of Levels 1 and 2 in all four domains. Students scoring Emerging on ELPA21 are eligible for ongoing program support.

Progressing

Students are Progressing when, with support, they approach a level of English language skill necessary to produce, interpret, and collaborate, on grade-level content‐related academic tasks in English. This is indicated on ELPA21 by attaining a profile with one or more domain scores above Level 2 that does not meet the requirements to be Proficient. Students scoring Progressing on ELPA21 are eligible for ongoing program support.

Proficient

Students are Proficient when they attain a level of English language skill necessary to independently produce, interpret, collaborate on, and succeed in grade-level content‐related academic tasks in English. This is indicated on ELPA21 by attaining a profile of Level 4 or higher in all domains. Once Proficient on ELPA21, students can be considered for reclassification.

ELPA Performance Standards (Cut Scores)

ELPA Performance Level Descriptors