English Language Learners
Maritime Academy Charter School’s English Language Learner Policy (Updated August 2023)
MISSION: The mission of the English as a Second Language Program at Maritime Academy Charter School is to provide support to English Language Learners (ELLs)-- those students whose English proficiency level precludes them from accessing, processing, and acquiring unmodified grade level content in English- which will enable them to achieve success in mainstream classrooms, the school environment, and post-secondary education.
EDUCATIONAL THEORY AND APPROACH: Students who are identified as ELLs, as per MACS’s entrance criteria below, will receive English as a Second Language (ESL) services in accordance with their needs. MACS provides rigorous ESL instruction that explicitly teaches academic language and English language communication skills in context, so that ELLs are on a pathway to exit the ESL program within 5 years. When pull-out or sheltered ESL instruction is required, the goal of the ESL program is to move students towards full integration with supports as needed in the mainstream classroom as soon as possible.
PLAN OF ACTION:
1) In the ESL classroom, English will be presented as the language of literacy and learning. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) will be the focus of instruction, based on historical and current needs of MACS’s ELL population. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) will receive attention on an as-needed basis.
2) ELLs will participate in mainstream content classes to the level of their English proficiency. Adaptations and modifications will be made by the mainstream teacher; the ESL program coordinator and teacher will serve as resources.
PROGRAM GOALS: MACS’s ESL program goals are aligned with Pennsylvania’s Language Proficiency Standards for English Language Learners and TESOL’s National Standards.
1. Students will use English to communicate in social settings;
2. Students will use English to achieve academically in all content areas;
3. Students will use English socially and culturally appropriate ways;
4. Students will be able to understand, process, produce, and use the technical language of the content areas in a manner comparable to English proficient peers when presented with grade level material.
5. Evidence of progress toward the program goals will be students’ grades, achievement on the PSSA and ACCESS assessments.
IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF ELLs: As part of the enrollment procedure at MACS, parents/guardians complete a Home Language Survey (HLS). If the HLS indicates that a student comes from an environment where a language other than English is dominant and the student does not meet academic criteria to be exempted from English language proficiency assessment, the student will be assessed using the WIDA screener (kt through 12th grade) by the ESL program coordinator. All steps indicated in the state assessment plan will be followed.
According to the results of the WIDA screener (kt through 12th grade) students will be identified as Entering, Beginning, Developing, Expanding, Bridging, or Reaching. Those students who are Entering and Beginning will be placed in a Basic level ESL course; those who are Developing/Expanding will be placed in an Intermediate level ESL course. Parents/guardians of students who are Bridging or Reaching will receive notification that their child was assessed and found to be ineligible for ESL. Students who are not Bridging or Reaching may be administered a language dominance survey to determine whether they actually speak a language other than English. If a student does not speak a language other than English, the parent/guardian will be notified that their child was assessed and found to be ineligible for ESL.
Parents/guardians will be notified of their child’s assessment and placement in their preferred language and mode of correspondence.
Identification, assessment and placement of ELLs will be completed within the first 30 days of school or within 14 days of enrollment if the student enrolls after the first day of school. All records of assessment and placement will be kept in students’ files. Staff will be notified of students’ ESL placements as they are enrolled.
INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM:
Students at the Entering and Developing Levels (1 and 2) require more time and possible pull-out instruction during the literacy block. Pull-out instruction should be no more than one period a day for Entering and Developing students. Students at the Developing, Expanding, and Bridging Levels (3-5) should receive push-in instruction in the general education/core academic classroom alongside their peers as the classroom teacher and ESOL teacher collaborate.
For the purpose of instruction in ESL, students may be grouped by grade or proficiency level.
All ELLs at MACS will have the opportunity to receive art, foreign languages, health and physical education, and technology courses either as a requirement or an elective with mainstream peers. They will also be assigned to mainstream content courses, with modifications and adaptations made by mainstream teachers, and support from the ESL program coordinator and teacher as needed and as their assessed level indicates. Additional activities such as after-school sports and clubs are available and to be made accessible to all ELL students.
STAFFING: MACS’s ESL teacher will always have full PA certification and an ESL Program Specialist certificate.
COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS/GUARDIANS: Written and oral communications from MACS will be done in the parents’ preferred language. Translators will be made available for all meetings at the school at the parents’/guardians’ request. Mainstream teachers who need to contact the parents/guardians of ELLs will have translation support available to them on request.
receive a brochure which includes information on the school, the ESL program, and criteria for exiting ESL, translated into their preferred language.
ESL PROGRAM EXIT CRITERIA: As per the BSE, effective June 7, 2021, the exit criteria provided below for English Language Learners (ELLs) represent valid and reliable evidence of a student’s English language proficiency to exit from an English language instructional program. MACS will use both of the required exit criteria listed below.
REQUIRED EXIT CRITERIA :
1. Two language use inventories must be completed. An ESL teacher must complete one of the inventories when possible. The other inventory may be completed by a single content teacher or a team of content teachers. In cases in which an ESL teacher cannot complete an inventory (e.g. students whose parents have refused services and who are not seen by an ESL teacher or ELs in higher proficiency levels who do not work with an ESL teacher regularly), both inventories may be completed by content teachers or teams of teachers. If only one teacher can accurately complete the inventory (e.g. elementary classes in which the classroom teacher is ESL certified and provides both content and language instruction and there is no other teacher or administrator who can accurately complete the inventory), one inventory may be completed and the single score is multiplied by two. The two inventories do not need to agree. The language use inventories must be completed prior to the release of ACCESS scores each year for students who, based on teacher input and previous ACCESS scores, are likely to reach the threshold. Once ACCESS scores are released, the points are added to the points from the rubrics to determine if students are eligible to be reclassified.
2. Threshold for reclassification: 10.5. When this reclassification score is equal to or greater than the cutoff, then a student should be reclassified. However, if there is compelling evidence to suggest that a student should remain identified as an EL when his/her score exceeds the cutoff, and this evidence is documented along with the ACCESS for ELLs® score report and language use inventory forms, then the EL status may be retained.
The following tables display the points possible from the ACCESS for ELLs® and the language use inventories:
ELs with Disabilities - taking the ACCESS for ELLs.
An EL with a disability who has not met the criteria outlined above may be considered for reclassification if:
1. The student has an IEP
2. The student has been continuously enrolled in an LIEP for at least four years
3. The student’s overall composite proficiency level score* on the ACCESS for ELLs® has not increased by more than 10% between any two years or total over the three most recent testing cycles
4. The school has documented evidence** that the student has been provided with the appropriate level of language support, including ELD instruction, throughout his/her enrollment in the LIEP
5. A school-based team recommends reclassification
MONITORING: Students exiting the ESL program will be monitored for two years. The ESL program coordinator will be responsible for monitoring exited students. Monitoring will take place at the end of each quarter and informally throughout the school year. Measures of student progress will be: grades, standardized test scores, and teacher observations. Students may reenter the ESL program if monitoring reveals continued ESL needs or a lack of academic progress.
Admission Process for English Language Learners
Enrollment:
▪ Student enrolled upon receipt of local address, proof of immunization, and all admissions paperwork. Students are enrolled without regard to English Language Proficiency.
Identification:
▪ Administer Home Language Survey (HLS) upon enrollment
▪ If a language other than English is indicated for any of the HLS questions, ESL Coordinator is notified and given student’s records
▪ Administer the WIDA screener or KW-APT within the first 30 days of school or within14 days of enrollment if the student enrolls after the first day of school (if necessary).
Family will be notified of student’s WIDA screener or KW-APT outcomes and placement within the first 30 days of school or within 14 days of enrollment.
Placement (if necessary):
▪ Student is placed in the appropriate English or ESL course
▪ Family receives ESL Family Orientation from ESL Coordinator
We commit to the following:
1. To provide English as a Second Language (ESL) courses as part of the core curriculum when our Home Language Survey and assessment procedures reveal a need;
2. To provide adequate certified staff and instructional time for our ESL program, as determined by the size and needs of our ELL population;
3. To allocate adequate resources and funds to our ESL program, on par with other core subjects;
4. To ensure that students in the ESL program are included in all school- and state-wide testing, with appropriate accommodations as defined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education;
5. To conduct an annual evaluation of the ESL program’s effectiveness for the purpose of program innovation and improvement;
6. To ensure that ELLs have access to all aspects of MACS’s academic and extra-curricular life;
7. To assist ELLs’ families and communities in becoming an active part of MACS and help them support their children in MACS’s academics and extra-curricular activities.