EL Monitoring Requirement

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Home > References and Resources > Excerpts from the Dear Colleague Letter (US Depts Justice and Education)

Excerpts from the Dear Colleague Letter (US Depts Justice and Education)

p. 34-38

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  • After students have exited an EL program, school districts must monitor the academic progress of former EL students for at least two years to ensure that: the students have not been prematurely exited; any academic deficits they incurred as a result of participation in the EL program have been remedied; and they are meaningfully participating in the standard instructional program comparable to their never-EL peers.

 

  •  When a school district’s PROCESS FOR MONITORING an exited EL student indicates that a persistent language barrier may be the cause of academic difficulty because general education and remediation services have proven inadequate, school districts should re-test the student with a valid and reliable, grade-appropriate ELP test to determine if there is a persistent language barrier and must offer additional language assistance services where needed to meet its civil rights obligations. In no case should re-testing of an exited student’s ELP be prohibited. If the results of the re-testing qualify the student as EL, the school district must reenter the student into EL status and offer EL services. If the student is reentered into EL services, school districts should document the bases for the reentry and the parents’ consent to such reentry.

 

  • Example 19: School districts throughout the State found that a longitudinal cohort analysis shows that EL students who completed and exited the EL program are not able to meaningfully participate in regular education classes comparable to their never-EL peers. The State revises its criteria for exiting EL students from EL programs to ensure that the criteria are valid and reliable and require proficiency in the four domains. The district then provides teachers and staff with training on revised exit criteria and procedures. The district takes additional steps to improve the EL program’s services.

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  • Some examples of when the Departments have identified compliance issues regarding the exiting of EL students include when school districts: (1) exit intermediate and advanced EL students from EL programs and services based on insufficient numbers of teachers who are qualified to deliver the EL program; (2) prematurely exit students before they are proficient in English, especially in the specific language domains of reading and writing; (3) fail to monitor the progress of former EL students; or (4) fail to exit EL students from EL programs after EL students demonstrate (or could have demonstrated if assessed) proficiency in English. In their investigations, the Departments consider, among other things, whether:
  • School districts monitor the progress of all of their EL students, including opt outs, in achieving English language proficiency and acquiring content knowledge;        
  • SEAs monitor whether school districts’ programs enable EL students to acquire English, content knowledge, and parity of participation in the standard instructional program;
  • SEAs develop and ensure that school districts implement objective ELP standards that define EL status and inform EL programs, services, and assessments;
  • School districts monitor EL student progress to establish benchmarks for expected growth and to assist students who are not adequately progressing towards those goals;
  • SEAs and school districts do not exit students from EL programs, services, and status until EL students demonstrate English proficiency on a valid and reliable ELP assessment; and
  • School districts monitor, for at least two years, the academic progress of students who have exited an EL program to ensure that the students have not been prematurely exited, any academic deficits they incurred resulting from the EL program have been remedied, and they are meaningfully participating in the district’s educational programs comparable to their never-EL peers.
Author: Donna Villareal
Last modified: 20-Oct-23 8:51 AM (EST)