The Principals' Corner
Thank you principals, for your leadership, your hard work,
for inspiring us to be better than we thought we could be.
Principals' Data Meeting
November 2 and 16, 2018
ACCESS for ELLs Growth Targets
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Join Us!
Leadership Academy
June 5-6, 2018
Athens State Ballroom
IMPORTANT!!
EL Program basics you need to
know:
UPDATE!!
New Home Language Survey!
We are now required to ask the country of origin on our Home Language Surveys. Please replace the current HLS by downloading a copy of the new HLS below and adding it to your registration packet.
Note: Print the first page in English and then scroll and select the second language you wish to print (they are in ABC order).
2017-2018 Home Language Survey
IMPORTANT:
ACCESS Scoring Changes for
Spring 2017:
The bar has been raised for language proficiency for our EL students. According to WiDA, "Students will need to showcase higher language skills in 2016–2017 to achieve the same proficiency level scores (1.0–6.0). This is the result of a process called standard setting."
As a result, the scores will likely be impacted in the following ways:
"Some students' scores may go down
Fewer students may exit program support"
Our EL students will have to complete more tasks correctly in order to achieve a higher proficiency score. We expect that our students will be impacted in the ways previously stated.
These changes will result in EL students remaining in the program longer than they would have. This will be a benefit to ELs in that they will be held to a higher standard and will be better prepared to exit the program and achieve higher gains in the academic classroom.
For more information, click on the link below:
2017 ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Score Changes
2017 LCS District Frequency and Summary Reports
"In 2017, ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 scoring is more rigorous. In other words, students will be required to perform better to receive the same proficiency level scores. It is possible that a student’s 2017 proficiency level scores may decrease even if they made progress. This calculator allows you to apply the new rigorous score scale to 2015-16 test scores."
FYI~What happens the first 30 days of school in the EL Program?
Our EL Program has a busy month at the start of school and many folks may not be aware of what we are required to do according to state and federal guidelines to do. Here is an overview of the expectations of EL teachers:
1. EL Teachers do not get student ACCESS score reports until school has dismissed for the summer. We are required to communicate with every student's parent(s) we serve to share and explain the ACCESS score results of their child. EL Teachers will do this once school begins.
2. EL Teachers begin putting together parental notices and other paperwork while contacting the parents to set up meetings.
3. With the parents and the EL Committee, we re-assess and revise as needed each student's I-ELP (Individual English Language/Learner Plan) to make service decisions for that child for the upcoming year.
4. EL Teachers also take all Home Language Surveys from newly enrolled students where there is an indication that a language other than English in the home environment. They will screen each student to determine if the student qualifies for EL services.
5. If the student does not qualify, the EL Teacher will have that student coded as NOMPHLOTE and inform the parents of the student's results.
6. If the student does qualify, the EL Teacher must share the results with the parents and hold an EL Committee meeting to make decisions about the placement of the student in EL services. EL Teachers are required to do this within 30 calendar days of the start of school if the student preregistered or within 10 days if the student registers after school starts.
7. EL Teachers will hold anywhere from 30-50 meetings and can do up to 10-20 new screenings (varies from year to year and location to location) during the first 30 days of school. They are required to keep on file all documents regarding a student's screening and placement. Some items must be kept in the student's cumulative record, copies of all documents are sent to the central office, and others are kept in the EL Teachers’ files. EL Teachers that serve more than one school must do these tasks at all of the schools they serve.
8. We currently have 7 EL teachers serving 15 school locations in Limestone County. We also have 3 EL Assistants serving our higher EL population schools. In 2018-2019, we tested approximately 442 students with the ACCESS 2.0 assessment and project that we will be serving more students during the 2019-2020 school year. This projection does not include the number of FELs 1-4 (Former English Learners) that the EL Teachers are required to monitor for 4 years once the EL student exits the program. We currently have approximately 117 FEL monitored students.
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Make a Note
Principals: 2 Important Goals!!
Our EL Team is worked on 2 goals for the 2017-2018 school year and saw positive increases. We believe in the importance of working together with classroom teachers and parents to increase student achievement and success in schools. We will continue to work on those goals for the 2018-2019 school year:
1. Continue to increase support for our classroom teachers.
3. Continue to increase parental outreach.
Our team will be working on creative ways to reach out to our classroom teachers and parents. Be aware that your EL Teacher may approach you to ask to share strategies/instructional approaches or information during a faculty or other school meeting for a minimal amount of time.
Ms. Tipton will devote a day each month for any school that would like for her to come for a day to be available to teachers during their planning periods who would like more information regarding EL policies/procedures and/or information about the WIDA Language standards or "Can-Do Descriptors." If you would like Ms. Tipton to come to be available to teachers during their planning period, please contact her to set up a day.
NEW WIDA Screener:
Alabama has adopted the new WIDA Screener as the screening assessment to be used to identify students who qualify for EL services. The Screener will be free to use and administered on-line. Any student who scores below a 5.0 will be identified as an EL student and will qualify for EL services.
The EL Teachers have been trained and certified to administer the new WIDA Screener for the 2018-2019 school year.
FEL (Former English Learner) Monitoring:
Reminder~
EL students that qualify to exit the program (coded as FEL students) will be monitored for 4 years instead of 2 years and will be counted in the EL subgroup for accountability purposes.
WIDA Standards Posted in Classrooms:
Principals~
Make sure teachers post the WIDA Language Standards in their classrooms and reference the language standards in their lesson plans.
WIDA ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS POSTER
LARGE ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS POSTER
EL Teacher Calendar - 1st 30 School Days - Parent Meetings and Placement Decisions:
EL teachers are required to hold I-ELP (Individual English Language/Learner Plan) meetings with parents to discuss their child's EL placement for the new school year. They are also required to screen potential student candidates based on the Home Language Survey responses to determine if the student qualifies for EL services and to hold parent meetings to discuss the results. They will not begin working with students until the bulk of their meetings are completed.
EL Teacher Team Meeting Schedule:
The EL Team will meet 10 times during the 2018-2019 school year to discuss program updates, program data, curriculum/instructional needs and assessment preparations as well as engage in a study of the USDOE Toolkit for . The meetings will be held in the EL classroom at Piney Chapel Elementary School, unless the location needs to be changed.
Please click on the link to see the dates of their team meetings. 2018-2019 EL TEAM MEETING SCHEDULE
Individual teacher schedules can be obtained directly from the EL teacher.
HELP NEEDED: Scheduling Interpreter Requests
Please spread the word: Utilizing interpreters can be more expensive if requests at the same school are submitted separately, even if served by the same interpreter. Spread the word for teachers to work together by communicating with others that they are requesting an interpreter. For example, the special education department, classroom teachers, and the EL teacher can hold meetings on the same day and submit interpreter requests in bulk at a school to reduce the cost of utilizing interpreting services.
NEW CURRICULUM MATERIALS!!
We are proud to announce that we have adopted the National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning curriculum materials for ELs to help support our EL instruction as we teach the WIDA Language Standards. This program provides the rigor and flexibility as well as the academic language support we need to reach all ages and proficiency levels. The National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning curriculum materials provides 3 main programs targeted for specific grades:
Reach (Grades K-5)
Inside (Grades 6-8)
Edge (Grades 9-12)
Each program addresses all proficiency levels in listening, speaking, reading and writing rooted in the content areas.
For more information, click on the links below:
RESOURCES
"Expert guidance, training, and resources to help directors comply with federal parent and family engagement requirements."
"Parent notices in multiple languages that help you save money, prepare for monitoring visits, and authentically engage parents."
AND.....IT'S PAID FOR BY ALABAMA!