Multilingual Services - Identification of MLs

Identification of Multilingual Learners

Plans are in place to identify newly arrived students who may be multilingual learners. Upon registration, staff will contact the ESOL teacher who will follow current legal guidelines in order to determine the student's status.

The state of Maine mandates that each school send a Language Use Survey to all student's households. The answers provided on the survey indicate whether or not a student will be screened for English Language ability. The Language Use Survey is available to download in English and 25 of Maine’s most commonly spoken languages from the Department website. It is also available via TransACT, a service provided through the Maine DOE to give districts access to ESSA-compliant parent notifications in English and other languages.

Process overview - What are the key steps to identifying and placing a student in a ML program?

MLs are identified through the Language Use Survey and administration of the K W-APT, K MODEL or for grades 1-12 the WIDA Screener Online.

Once students enroll in the district, how much time can pass before schools must make placement decisions?

English learners must be identified and placed within thirty days of enrollment from the beginning of the school year or within two weeks of enrollment during the school year.

What if English only was listed on the LUS, but a teacher has evidence that a student's English language development has been affected by another language? The teacher can sign the LUS and reach out to the district ESOL specialist. (See below)

WIDA ACCESS Testing

Each student whose language use survey indicates something other than English, will be tested according to the WIDA consortium.

- If the student receives a passing score of a 4.5 or higher, they are not entered on the ML roster.
- If a student receives a score below a 4.5, they are entered on the ML roster, and letters are mailed and correspondence is convened with parents and school staff.

If a language other than English is noted on any portion of the survey, the school will notify the ESOL district teacher.

Language Use Survey Decision Tree.pdf