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UACS LIEP

Language Instruction Educational Program

Purpose

Urban Academy offers content-based English language instructional programs and services to meet the varied needs of English learners. English learners acquire academic English through participation in age-appropriate, content-based instruction that is aligned to WIDA English Language Development Standards as well as the Minnesota K-12 Academic Content Standards. Our ELL department along with content area teachers strives to provide English learners with the support they need to acquire English language proficiency in grade-level academic content.

 MN State Statute

124D.61 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PROGRAMS.

A district that enrolls one or more English learners must implement an educational program that includes at a minimum the following requirements:

(1) identification and reclassification criteria for English learners and program entrance and exit criteria for English learners must be documented by the district, applied uniformly to English learners, and made available to parents and other stakeholders upon request;

(2) a written plan of services that describes programming by English proficiency level made available to parents upon request. The plan must articulate the amount and scope of service offered to English learners through an educational program for English learners;

(3) professional development opportunities for ESL, bilingual education, mainstream, and all staff working with English learners which are: (i) coordinated with the district's professional development activities; (ii) related to the needs of English learners; and (iii) ongoing;

(4) to the extent possible, avoid isolating English learners for a substantial part of the school day; and

(5) in predominantly nonverbal subjects, such as art, music, and physical education, permit English learners to participate fully and on an equal basis with their contemporaries in public school classes provided for these subjects. To the extent possible, the district must assure pupils enrolled in a program for English learners an equal and meaningful opportunity to participate fully with other pupils in all extracurricular activities.

 Placement and Assessment

English Learners are students whose primary language is not English or those facing challenges with English due to exposure to another language during their upbringing. English Language Learners are identified at the beginning of each year by the MNLS Survey. Only a student whose parents have completed a Minnesota Language Survey (MNLS), participated in the grade-appropriate English language screening assessment, and has been identified as an English learner can be enrolled in an English language educational program. A student that has not participated in a screener or does not have a completed MNL may not be placed into a Language Instruction Educational Program (LIEP).

 English Learner Identification

A Home Language Questionnaire is given to all families upon registering their children.  If the questionnaire results indicate a language other than English is spoken at home, a placement test will be given to the student.  Urban Academy uses the WIDA materials.  The placement test is called the WIDA ACCESS Placement Test (WAPT).  If the WAPT results indicate the student places in the limited English proficiency range, then the student will receive ELL services. Parents have the choice to opt out of ELL services.  If they choose to opt out, they will need to sign the form stating they wish to opt out their child from ELL services. 

Timeframe for Entrance Process

The process of placement once a student has been identified as an English learner.

●      District staff assess the language ability of each student identified as an English learner. Assessment should occur upon enrollment.

●      The initial identification of a student as an EL and parent notification must occur not later than 30 days after the beginning of the school year, or within two weeks of initial enrollment if not enrolled at the beginning of the school year.

●      The MARSS Coordinator enters “EL START DATE” element in MARSS in September (or the month the student qualifies if beginning after the school’s start date). The MARSS Coordinator should ensure that all data elements are entered prior to October 1st.

●      The school sends via mail parent notification of student enrollment in the LIEP within the first 30 days of the school year or within 10 days of enrollment in the ELD program. 

SLIFE Identification Criteria

Students with limited interrupted formal education (SLIFE) are an important group of English learners who need special consideration in identification, programming, and graduation pathways. The definition of Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) (Minn. Stat. § 124D.59, Subd. 2a) is an English learner with an interrupted formal education who meets three of the following five requirements:

  1. comes from a home where the language usually spoken is other than English, or usually speaks a language other than English;
  2. enters school in the United States after grade 6;
  3. has at least two years less schooling than the English learner's peers;
  4. functions at least two years below expected grade level in reading and math; and
  5. may be preliterate in the English learner's native language.

Upon enrollment and qualification for ELD instruction, the student and parent/guardian is interviewed for information to determine SLIFE identification. Parent and student interview questions are available on MDE’s SLIFE webpage. Transcripts from previous schools, if available, can help identify and place SLIFE into appropriate programs. Local reading and math assessments help determine academic proficiency. An annotation of SLIFE status will be entered into the student information system and reported to MDE by June 1 each year.

Immigrant Identification Criteria

An immigrant student is defined as a student who:

  1. is aged 3 through 21;
  2. was not born in any State or any U.S. territory;
  3. has not been attending one or more schools in any one or more states for more than three full academic years (on a cumulative basis)

For purposes of determining if a student meets the definition of immigrant children and youth under Title III, staff should request only information about a student’s date of birth, place of birth, and prior schooling enrollment. If a student is identified as an immigrant, an annotation of immigrant status is entered into the student information system and reported to MDE by June 1 each year.

 Migratory Children and Families

If a student is identified as a migratory child, the parent liaison will contact Tri-Valley Opportunity Council (TVOC) for migratory support services. The liaison then works with food service to ensure the child has access to free meals. The liaison will also speak with the family to confirm homeless eligibility through the McKinney Vento Act. The liaison also has access to and enters information in the Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX) national database to gather and update student academic and health information.

Dual Identification

The EL Coordinator and the Special Education Coordinator together review special needs and referrals for EL identified students. The EL program does not substitute for other educational services for which a student may qualify. Likewise, neither special education services nor tiered reading interventions may substitute for EL services.

If a student demonstrates a possible need for special education services, staff do not delay in beginning the process for special education evaluation. Further, students who are being evaluated for special education support must demonstrate a disability in both languages; identification must not solely be the result of being a culturally or linguistically diverse student. If a team documents evidence that the student’s ability/achievement/behavior is significantly below that of a comparable peer, disability screening may be appropriate.

If a student is found to qualify for both EL and Special Education services, the teams will collaborate with grade-level/content-area teachers in all stages of the process of scheduling and programming.

 EL Placement Procedures

Students identified for EL status during the identification process will be placed into EL program instructional levels based on the following:

●      WIDA Screener scores are used to inform initial placement.

●       If WIDA results are not available, newly enrolling English Learner students are given a placement test in English and Math when they enroll, for purposes of appropriate placement. This ensures that students can learn in collaboration with peers who are at similar stages in their academic development.

●      The professional judgment of K-12 ESL-licensed teachers based on in-class student performance also informs placement until performance data and ACCESS results are available.

●      Additional information, such as time in U.S. schools, prior education history, proficiency and literacy levels in students’ home language(s), also inform placement.

When a student’s EL program instructional services have been determined, the EL staff member responsible mails a notification letter to the family within the first 30 days of the school year or within 10 days of enrollment in the ELD program. The letter notifies parents of their child’s eligibility to receive EL support. The school begins providing EL services and enters into MARSS:

●      the student’s status as “EL-Yes”,

●      the home (primary) language, and

●      the date the student first received EL services in the district.

 Description of the EL Program

Instruction takes on many forms including direct instruction from EL teachers or paraprofessionals; Push-In Support in general education classrooms; classroom support; and consultation with general education teachers on planning language objectives and differentiated instruction.  EL teachers focus on language acquisition, including Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency.

In the Push In program, the EL teacher co-plans with the classroom teacher and provides direct EL support in the classroom during instruction. All ELs receive push-in instruction with a licensed EL teacher at least four times per week.  Also, many ELs who place at the newcomer or beginner levels receive additional small group instruction provided by a licensed EL teacher.  EL service is guided by WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards, WIDA  Can-Do descriptors, and Grade Level State Standards.  EL instruction is delivered using instructional strategies that have been proven by research to help ELs access content objectives. Additionally, Bilingual Paraprofessionals support EL students in the classroom under the direction of the EL teacher, Classroom Teachers, and the Response to Intervention Team.

Staff Roles

Responsibilities of ELL teachers beyond instruction, consulting, and scheduling include:

●      Testing including administration of and evaluation of ACCESS, WAPT, and other      assessments

●      Participation when an ELL is referred to child study process.

●      Progress Reports / Parent Conferences

●      Communication with parents and staff on a regular basis

●      Supervision of paraprofessionals

ELL Curriculum used but not limited to:

●      UFLI

●      WIDA materials are used including WIDA Can-Do descriptors in lesson planning.

●      FishTank ELA

Professional development:

Urban Academy ELL Teachers, school principal and ELL Paraprofessionals who are working with ELL are provided with job embedded professional development with topics such as research-based methods, language acquisition, and culturally responsive practice that are appropriate to effectively support the learning of the ELLs. Professional Development is provided for General Education teachers in EL instructional strategies during our Professional Learning Community meetings once per month.

Student Progress Reporting:

ELL progress reports will be in English and the home language of the student/parent(s)

Less proficient ELLs will receive more hours of ELL instruction than those who are more proficient in English.  The following table describes a framework of services provided to each ELL by licensed ELL teachers:

 Minutes of English Language Development (ELD) Instruction

Due to the high percentage of EL students, EL teachers spend 120 minutes per week in each classroom providing push-in support. The amount of time the EL teacher spends with each student during the class time differs depending on the student’s WIDA level. A student that is classified as Level 1 will receive more instructional support during that time than a student classified as Level 4. In addition, many ELs who place at the newcomer or beginner levels receive additional small group instruction outside the general education classroom.

Long Term English Learners

Students who have been officially classified as EL for at least 5 years may be considered Long Time English Learners (LTEL).  These students will continue to be provided with EL support from licensed EL teachers and/or EL paraprofessionals until they test out of the program.

Staffing to Support EL Students

UA will employ licensed ELL teachers and ELL paraprofessionals, as needed. FY25 Urban Academy has 2 full-time ELL Teachers. All General Education Teachers, the school principal, Interventionists, Director of Academics, District Literacy Lead, and Paraprofessionals who are working with ELL are provided with job embedded professional development with topics such as research-based methods, language acquisition, and culturally responsive practice that are appropriate to effectively support the learning of the ELLs.

Assessment and Ongoing Identification Procedures

The following assessments can indicate a student qualifies for ELL services.  A combination of assessments is used including but not limited to:

A.  Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State (ACCESS) Levels 1-5.

B.  Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) scores less than "Meets".

C.  Measure of Academic Progress scores below 50th %ile.

Transitioning students from one year to the next

WIDA determines their EL placement and support for the following year.

EL Program Evaluation and Adjustment

We regularly assess our EL program using WIDA and ACCESS test results to track students' English language progress. Twice a year, we observe EL teachers, paraprofessionals, and general education teachers to see how they work with EL students. Based on this information, we provide training on effective EL teaching strategies and make necessary changes to our teaching approaches or curriculum.

EL Program Exit Procedures

If a student has an overall composite score of 4.5 or greater, and all domain scores are at least 3.5, then the student is exited from the program.  If the student scores a 4.5 composite and three out of four domain scores (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) of at least 3.5, that student may also be exited from the program using additional criteria.

The following additional criteria may be applied in decisions about exiting when only one of the four domain scores is below 3.5.  If the speaking score is less than 3.5, the English Learner (EL) teacher will interview the student using The World Class Instructional Design (WIDA) speaking rubric to determine if the student may exit the program. If the reading score is less than 3.5, then the EL teacher consults with the classroom teacher who examines the classroom Standards-Objectives-Assessment-Reteaching (SOAR) results and FastBridge Benchmark assessments to determine if the student may exit the EL program. If the student has a writing score that is less than 3.5, the EL teacher consults with the classroom teacher who examines curriculum based writing samples applying the WIDA writing rubric to determine if the student may exit the EL program. If the student has a listening score below 3.5, then the EL teacher listens to the student speaking and applies the WIDA rubric after giving WIDA ACCESS Placement Test (WAPT) picture prompts to determine if the student may exit the EL program.

  1. The EL student is exited from LIEP if ACCESS composite score is > or = 4.5 and all domains are > or = 3.5.
  2. Additional criteria is used to determine eligibility if composite is > or = 4.5 and only one domain score < 3.5.

Additional exit criteria may include:

●      Standards, Objective, Assessment, Reteaching (SOAR) plan data results

●      FastBridge Benchmark reading level assessment data

●      WIDA speaking and writing rubric analysis

Monitoring Exited Students

If a student who has recently exited the EL program is referred to RIT and an EL need is identified, the student may be rescreened to determine eligibility for EL services.

 Communication Procedures

Parents receive an information packet about the LIEP, which includes a letter explaining student qualifications and English language proficiency scores in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These documents are provided in both English and the student's native language. Additionally, EL teachers are available during parent-teacher conferences and can meet with parents as needed or requested to provide information about the EL program and/or to provide updates on a child’s progress.

A description of the LIEP can be found on the school’s website.

Liaison and home language outreach for school activities and events

Urban Academy (UA) employs many bilingual staff members who can speak multiple languages and also has a school social worker.  The ELL program includes cultural liaisons and bilingual paraprofessionals that can communicate with the home as well as do home visits as needed.