ESOL Information
Class Structure
The ESOL classes are designed to support students' acquisition of English to support social interaction and academic success. The ESOL teacher will collaborate with the classroom teacher to design lessons to support academic content goals and offer opportunities to practice language skills in a small group setting. Students are grouped according to language proficiency level and/or grade level.
WIDA Standards
Greenville County School District is part of the WIDA (World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment) Consortium and adopted the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards. These standards represent the social, instructional, and academic language that students need to engage with peers, educators, and the curriculum in schools.
A summary of these standards are as follows:
WIDA -ELD - Standard 1
English language learners communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting.
WIDA -ELD - Standard 2
English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
WIDA -ELD - Standard 3
English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.
WIDA -ELD - Standard 4
English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.
WIDA -ELD - Standard 5
English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social
Information from www.wida.us
Assessments
WIDA Screener-Students who are new to Greenville County Schools will be screened to determine their level of language proficiency. This enables the ESOL teacher to determine their need to enter the ESOL program for assistance.
ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners) is an annual English language proficiency assessment for K-5 through 12th graders. This test shows growth in English language proficiency and serves as an exit exam for the ESOL program. When students are able to score 4.4 in their composite score and at least 4.0 in the domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, they will exit the ESOL program. Exited students will continue to be monitored for 4 years.