Multilingual and Multitalented

Program Duration

1 school year based on English Language Proficiency, Academic Performance, and Behavior

6th-8th Grade Level Content Classes

English as a Second Language Class

Meet our Staff

Attendance

Middle School Daily Schedule

Middle School Bus Routes

Accommodations and Modifications

SLIFE

Students with limited or interrupted formal education will receive individualized intervention to close the gap while advancing in their academic courses. Empower Academy will analyze each multilingual learner's profile based on the information provided during registration, as well as the data collected from an initial English proficiency screener and/or scores from content grade-level standardized assessments that will serve as benchmarks. This will allow teachers to identify areas of need and decide the next steps for RTI.

Integration of Technology

Empower Academy will foster a culture of technology integration in all aspects of the students' academic life by utilizing a variety of technology in the classroom to enhance the students' academic achievement. Multilingual learners will have access to a personal device to login into the different apps to complete academic course work. Students are expected to demonstrate ethical digital citizenship, following recommendations and procedures to access the network while using a device in the school buidling.

Assessment and Benchmarks

At Empower Academy, all multilingual learners will participate in continuous formative and summative assessments, as well as in state-mandated standardized testing and benchmarks. 

Students will receive two grades per course every week, a progress report every four weeks, and a report card every nine weeks (see calendar below). The data collected from every assessment will serve to track and monitor progress to decide if a student has mastered a standard or if further intervention is needed.

All multilingual learners will participate in the annual WIDA ACCESS test as a benchmark to demonstrate progress in their English proficiency. The data obtained by the WIDA ACCESS test will let the teachers know when a student is ready to move into the mainstream classroom at the end of a grading period. Multilingual learners are expected to achieve the target growth as shown in the ALSDE EL Resource Guide Section 10. 

All K-12 Multilingual Learners must participate in the ACAP for accountability purposes. However, ESSA allows the following flexibility for English Learners who have been enrolled in a U.S. school for less than 12 months:

• Exempt a recently-arrived EL from one administration of the Reading/Language Arts assessment (these students must take the math and, if applicable, the science assessments).  

• Exclude their results on the math and science assessments for the purpose of accountability (achievement). Participation in ACCESS for ELLs or Alternate ACCESS for ELLs will count towards participation.  

• Include their achievement results for all content tests in years two and beyond.

If an EL student in their first twelve months of enrollment in a U.S. school chooses to participate in the ACAP Summative or ACAP Alternate reading test, the score for that reading test will not be included for the purpose of accountability. These students will be counted as participants toward meeting the 95% participation requirement for accountability purposes.

There is no flexibility for participation in ACT assessments. All ACT assessments must be taken.

See the chart below to clarify the participation of English Learners in their first 12 months of enrollment in U.S. schools on state assessments. The EL Committee must include decisions regarding the criteria outlined below in the Individual English Language Plan (I-ELP). These decisions must be made on an individual basis. 

ACAP Summative

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