The Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE) statewide English Learner (EL) Program helps to ensure equal access to educational opportunities for linguistically and culturally diverse students. The EL Program supports HIDOE’s mission to provide standards-based education through supplementary instructional and acculturation activities.

Background

The EL Program’s mission is based on the May 25, 1970 Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Memorandum.

“Where inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national origin-minority group children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district (school) must take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open its instructional program to these students.”

OCR Memorandum, May 25, 1970

Vision

Hawaii’s English Learners are educated, healthy, and joyful lifelong learners who develop their cultural and linguistic identities in order to contribute positively to our community and global society.

Mission

Hawaii’s public schools foster socially and culturally supportive environments, provide English Learners with rigorous content and linguistic instruction to ensure academic success, and engage meaningfully with parents, families, and community.

Program Goals

The EL Program strives to:

1. Provide meaningful access to educational opportunities and academic content by providing services that assist students with developing English language proficiency.

2. Support students in attaining the same State academic content and student achievement standards expected for all students.

3. Ensure students graduate with the language, knowledge and skills to pursue post-secondary education and careers.

4. Develop an understanding of and appreciation for diverse cultures.

5. Engage parents and families in the education of their children.

Theory of Action

If we believe …

• All English Learners are capable of achieving excellence in learning;

• Success influences the learner’s identity; identity influences learning;

• Multilingualism is an asset for learning and a competitive advantage in future careers.

And we ensure...

• Access to equitable education;

• All educators are teachers of language;

• Schools create learning environments responsive to students and families’ cultural and linguistic strengths and needs;

• Families and communities are partners.

→ Then we will improve achievement, promote global student development, and multilingual citizens who positively contribute to society.

EL Program Guidance

The EL Program Guidance Manual is grounded in federal law and corresponding federal guidance documents. To ensure that HIDOE achieves Federal compliance and provides adequate language services to our ELs, this manual is modeled around eight (8) required steps as described by the Office of Civil Rights and United States Department of Education guidance document, Developing Programs for English Language Learners Each chapter of this manual is aligned to a step and will provide detail on how each step can be accomplished.

The manual serves multiple purposes. It is a reference tool for state office, complex area, and school personnel who work with EL students. It provides a guidance and a legal basis, as well as processes, tools, forms, and resources that together used in tandem will support schools and complex areas in meeting EL-related federal and state obligations.

The manual provides:

1. Guidance around establishing and maintaining an EL Program that meets federal requirements, and;

2. Checklists, resources, flowcharts, forms, and electronic comprehensive student support system (eCSSS) navigational information for collecting data and implementing the EL Program, and any evidence that will be necessary for complex areas and schools to collect.

The EL Program Guidance Manual is posted online at: http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/TeachingAndLearning/StudentLearning/Multilingualism/Pages/EL.aspx.

Who are Hawaii ELs?

• About 18% of Hawaii's public school students are or have been ELs.

• 7% of students statewide receive EL services; in some geographic areas, the rate is as high as 22%

• Almost one in four high school students had been EL at some point during or before high school.

• Hawaii ELs represent about 70 different languages in any given year.

• Ilokano and Chuukese are the most commonly used languages statewide, but within complexes the most commonly used languages may differ.

• Students who reclassify from EL services because they demonstrate English proficiency have better outcomes than students who were never EL.

Source: Serving Hawaii's English Learners Report 2018

Want more Hawaii EL Data?

Learn more about Hawaii's ELs and see multiple years of data in an interactive online by clicking to view the Hawaii EL Data Story. This site was created by our partners P-20 and the Data Exchange Partnership as part of a collabaration with Department's Hawaii Asian American Pacific Isander (AAPI) Data Disaggregation Grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition.

Student cultural performances at the 2018 HIDOE Multilingualism Symposium