California's Vision and Mission of Success for English Learners

The California State Board of Education unanimously approved the California English Learner Roadmap State Board of Education Policy: Educational Programs and Services for English Learners (EL Roadmap Policy) on July 12, 2017. This policy is intended to provide guidance to local educational agencies (LEAs) on welcoming, understanding, and educating the diverse population of students who are English learners attending California public schools. The California English Learner Roadmap: Strengthening Comprehensive Educational Policies, Programs, and Practices for English Learners (CA EL Roadmap) builds on the EL Roadmap Policy and provides further guidance on educating English learners. The CA EL Roadmap supports LEAs as they implement the EL Roadmap Policy.

Vision

English learners fully and meaningfully access and participate in a twenty-first-century education from early childhood through grade twelve that results in their attaining high levels of English proficiency, mastery of grade level standards, and opportunities to develop proficiency in multiple languages.

Mission

California schools affirm, welcome, and respond to a diverse range of English learner (EL) strengths, needs, and identities. California schools prepare graduates with the linguistic, academic, and social skills and competencies they require for college, career, and civic participation in a global, diverse, and multilingual world, thus ensuring a thriving future for California.

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Distance Learning Resources for English Learners

All ELs are given instruction in English including English Language Development (ELD) and Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE). Teachers of ELs must hold the appropriate EL Authorization and are trained in methods and strategies that promote the rapid acquisition of English as well as academic knowledge in core subjects, including Guided Language Acquisition by Design (GLAD).  All CSD teachers are GLAD certified within their first two years in the district and represent the most dedicated and invested educators in the nation. They are enthusiastic about the BeGLAD model (Project GLAD) and are devoted to using our strategies to benefit students across the nation.  Teachers use a variety of assessments to monitor the progress of English learners.

English Learners shall be expected to progress through the ELD levels of English proficiency up to and including reclassification according to the continuum below:

Parent’s Overview of the California ELD Standards

Initial ELPAC Assessment

The Initial ELPAC is administered for students who have languages other than English. The Initial ELPAC is to be administered for initial identification purposes within 30 calendar days of first enrollment to a pupil whose primary language is other than English, as determined by the Home Language Survey, and who has not previously been assessed for English language proficiency in a California public school in kindergarten – grade 12.

The test evaluates listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English. The unofficial results are immediately made available to parents. Official results from the state are mailed to parents as soon as possible.  The ELPAC scores students at four (4) different English proficiency levels.  

Summative ELPAC Assessment

The summative ELPAC is administered during the Spring and parents are notified of the results after they are scored by the state.  This annual score is used in program placement, additional needs, program evaluation, and reclassification. The ELPAC shall be administered annually to each English Learner during the time frame established by the state.  The results of the summative ELPAC shall be used to evaluate how well English Learners are learning English. 

ELPAC Parent/Guardians Resources

The following resources for parents and guardians to support their child with online California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) and English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) testing.

• Starting Smarter
  • CAASPP Starting Smarter website 
  • ELPAC Starting Smarter website 
  • The Starting Smarter websites help parents understand student scores and reports, view sample test questions, and provide additional free resources to support your child’s learning.
• Practice and Training Tests
  • Practice and Training Tests web page 
  • This web page provides students guest access to practice and training tests. Select “Sign In” as a Guest User and Guest Session to take a practice or training test with your child. Select your child’s grade and choose a practice or training test for the following tests:
    • Smarter Balanced English-language Arts or mathematics
    • California Alternate Assessments for English-language Arts or mathematics
    • California Science Test
    • California Spanish Test
    • English Language Proficiency Assessments for California

English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC)

Whenever there are 21 or more English Learners at a school site, there needs to be a functioning English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC). The committee advises the principal on the development of the school plan for English Learners. The committee assists the school by conducting the needs assessment and administration of the language census. The parents of English Learners are elected and one of the members serves as the District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC) representative.  Please contact your child’s school for more information on the ELAC and meeting dates.

District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC)

The District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC) advises the governing board on the master plan for English learner education, district-wide needs assessment, and setting district goals for English learner education. The DELAC assists the district with language census report, written parent notification of initial assessment, district’s reclassification process, review of and comments on any related waiver request, and a timeline for the development of the master plan for English Learners education. The majority of the DELAC are parents of ELL students. The DELAC members are trained by the English Learner staff. 

An explanation of a district-level English Learner Advisory Committee's role, purpose, and requirements.

Requirement

Each California public school district, grades kindergarten through 12, with 51 or more English learners must form a District-level English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC) or subcommittee of an existing district-wide advisory committee.

Responsibilities

English Learner Grade Placement and Retention

Out-of-country students without educational records shall be placed according to the age of the student as of September 1 of the school year.

Any adjustment resulting in lowering grade placement must be thoroughly documented with home language assessment data, e.g., tests, classwork, and submitted for district review by the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services or designee. Parents(s)/Guardian(s) must be informed prior to the grade level adjustment.

Special care will be exercised to ensure that a student's limitation inability to communicate in English is not a factor to be considered in determining grade placement.

CA Department of Education guidance on the grade placement and retention of English Learners.

Grade placement decisions for newly-enrolled English Language Learners regarding grade placement of newly enrolled English learners (ELs), grade decisions are made at the district level based on the district’s evaluation of the student's academic records and also taking into account the students’ age. 

The CA Department of Education does not have any mandates regarding this issue. However, it is recommended that students learning English as a new language be placed in a grade as close as possible to their age peers. It is important for students to be placed with age peers to meet their socialization needs. The goal should be to place the student in a grade level that is appropriate for his or her age level and then provide the additional support needed to address the student’s English language acquisition needs.

Grade retention of English Language Learners 

If an EL student is retained solely on the basis of his/her lack of English proficiency, such retention would be discriminatory (based on Lau v. Nichols) because, in effect, the EL student would be retained for not having adequate prior exposure to English. So, to justify the retention of an EL student, the district would need to give evidence that

1) the student has been provided with an educationally sound English language support program, and

2) the student is being retained for reasons other than lack of English proficiency (for example, if the student did not meet grade-level standards due to poor attendance, lack of effort, or poor study habits). 

One purpose of the ELPAC is to measure the English language proficiency of students to ensure appropriate instructional placement.  For some students with special needs, a test variation may be necessary, similar to what we offer students when taking any portion of the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  A variation is a change in the manner in which a test is presented or administered or in how a test taker is allowed to respond.  This may include accommodations and/or modifications.  Test variations enable students to participate in assessments in a way that allows abilities rather than disabilities to be assessed.  They help level the playing field so that the assessment can more accurately measure the students’ knowledge and skills.  In California, students with disabilities who participate in the state assessment system are permitted to use accommodations/modifications during testing as determined by their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 Plans.  When an Alternative Assessment is deemed necessary, the school team works together to decide the most accurate and appropriate assessments to use based upon the students’ needs.

All parents are required by California law to complete and sign a Home Language Survey (HLS). This form is part of the registration packet that is filled out when enrolling their students at school sites. If a language other than English is indicated on the Home Language Survey, the child must be assessed with the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC).  The assessment assists the site in determining the student’s program placement and program development.  The Home Language Survey has been translated into over thirty (30) languages to assist parents/guardians with the process or in need, oral translations are also available.  This allows for the most accurate information that can effectively assist students in an appropriate program placement and instructional setting.

• CSD English Learner Program Flow Chart

CSD Multilingual Learner Connection Newsletter

• Fall 2021-22 Edition (CLICK HERE)
• Winter 2021-22 Edition (CLICK HERE)
• Spring 2021-22 Edition (CLICK HERE

At any time, including during the school year, a parent/guardian of an EL may request a transfer from the Structured English Immersion Program (decline services).  In these cases, the EL student shall be placed in an English Language Mainstream Classroom and will receive additional and appropriate Services.  Parents requesting such a waiver should be referred to the principal.  All requested waivers shall be applied for and processed/acted upon through the principal. For additional information, please contact your child’s school.

• Parent Waiver Request of EL Services

The chart below shows all program placement options.

All programs include English Language Development (ELD) and teaching strategies differentiated for each student’s level of English language proficiency. These strategies are used to help each student reach proficiency in speaking, reading and writing English, and succeed academically in all core subjects.

• Structured English Immersion (SEI): Students who score at less than reasonable fluency are placed in an SEI program and are taught overwhelmingly in English. Some assistance may be provided in the primary language. Students are taught ELD and other core subjects by authorized teachers using district-adopted textbooks and supplementary materials. Instruction is based on ELD and grade-level content standards.

• English Language Mainstream (ELM): Students who score at reasonable fluency in English are placed in an ELM program. They are taught ELD and other core subjects by authorized teachers using district-adopted textbooks and supplementary materials. Instruction is based on ELD and grade-level content standards. Students receive any additional instruction needed for them to be reclassified as fluent English proficient.

EL students who have been reclassified are monitored for the next four years.

On an annual basis, all English Learners will be assessed by the classroom teacher as to the student’s progress.  ELD portfolio entries shall be made at least by trimester (Grades K-5) & by quarter (Grades 6-8).  For additional information, please call your child’s school and set up a meeting.  Progress is always reviewed at teacher conferences and/or as needed throughout the school year.

Four (4) specific criteria for reclassifying English Learners to Fluent English Proficient (RFEP) status:  

1. The student achieved a Summative ELPAC score of 4.
2. Review and analysis of student performance based on the results of the student’s SBAC ELA and/or local ELA Performance-based assessment in reading & writing.  
3. Teacher evaluation of a student’s academic performance, which can be based on the student’s current report cards, grade point average (GPA), writing sample, and formative assessments reflecting the mastery of State Standards.  
4. Parent opinion and consultation, which involves parents or guardians in discussing their student’s English-language proficiency and meeting the guidelines for reclassification.  

After a student is reclassified, his/her academic progress is monitored for the next four years.  The four-year monitoring process requires school staff, including the classroom teacher and school administrator, to review RFEP students' academic progress to ensure that RFEP students continue to achieve at least the annual grade-level standards and provide additional support if the student is struggling.   

*SOLOM: Student Oral Language Observation Matrix