English Language Acquisition Plans (ELAP)

What is it?

This is a plan prepared by the ELD committee of each student that receives ELD services. The ELD committees consist of: An ELD teacher, a Special Education teacher (for students with IEPs), the Professional School Counselor (for students with 504 Plans), and Content teachers.

Content teachers: Provide input and feedback on the students' linguistic performance in their classroom. Implements the plan in their classrooms as stated by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Blueprint for Maryland's Future Act.
ELD teacher: Prepares the plan with the feedback from content teachers and personal observations.
Professional School Counselor and Special Education teacher: If a student has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a 504 Plan, these accommodation need to be reflected in the ELAP. IEP and 504 consideration must also be implemented by law.

This plan must be prepared/reviewed within the first 45 days of each school year, or after the first 45 days of school since the student's arrival.

ELD teachers must share these plans with their 'caseload' teachers as it is a legal document and accommodations are to be provided on a daily basis (as with IEPs and 504s)!

WIDA Approach & Philosophy

WIDA recognizes that all students must be assessed in a valid and reliable manner in order to gain meaningful results from WIDA's English language proficiency assessment suite. This includes, to the extent practicable, students with disabilities.

WIDA understands that:

MLs have diverse learning needs and styles
All MLs are capable of making progress toward English language proficiency
MLs must acquire discipline-specific language practices that enable them to interpret and produce language to effectively collaborate on content-related, grade-appropriate tasks
Focusing on what multilingual learners can do.
Knowing students from diverse linguistic, cultural, and experiential backgrounds bring valuable knowledge.
Believing in the assets, contributions, and potential of multilingual learners.

WIDA provides guidelines for how to best support students taking ACCESS for ELLs through the Accessibility and Accommodations Supplement.

WIDA Accommodations Framework

WIDA designed its accessibility and accommodation framework to ensure:

Application of effective linguistic scaffolding and Universal Design principals to the development of test items
Availability of flexible administrative considerations and universal tools for all students
Purposeful design and delivery of accommodations for students with disabilities

Modifications are not allowed on language proficiency testing, as they change what the test measures.

The Gist of Accommodations

- MLs enrolled in their first year of schooling in the United States (Newcomers) are exempted from state-mandated assessments for their first year (AP5111.3).
- All MLs must have a current ELAP indicating testing accommodations and classroom instructional supports based on the feedback provided by their classroom teachers, as well as their WIDA proficiency level.
- ELAPs must be signed by Principal, ELD Case Manager, ELD Coordinator, and Content Teachers via EduSkills.
- Accommodations must be offered on a regular basis during classroom instruction and assessment.

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