Age Appropriate Grade Placement
Age appropriate grade placement of English Learners ensures academic, cognitive, and social opportunities. Age appropriate grade placement (equal to non-EL peers) is both legally required as well as research-based best practice.
Students should be placed closest to their chronological age and academic background.
Should there be interrupted schooling, students should not be placed any more than one year below their chronological age (and this should only occur in the case that it gives the student a meaningful increase in opportunity to learn key skills that otherwise would not occur at the higher grade level.
For example, a student who is age 6 in the fall enrollment and never been to school may benefit from foundational literacy skills taught in Kindergarten. Additionally, there are other students age 6 who attended Development Kindergarten so this grade/age placement is equitable and not specific to the student's status as an English Learner.
High School Grade Placement: Credit Related
Most schools classify secondary students' grade placement based on the number of years they have attended high school. This may need to be explained in detail to students unfamiliar with the U.S. high school educational system.
Immigrant Student Specifics
If the student is an immigrant, it is possible s/he previously attended a school where s/he took high school credits EVEN if it doesn't seem to be "described" as a high school on the school's transcript / grade report . For example, in Mexico, the "middle school" equivalent is common to U.S. grades 7-9. As such, year 3's coursework may qualify as high school 9th grade learning standards / credit.