Students are identified as multilingual learners (ML) when it is determined that the influence of a home language other than English impacts their ability to achieve grade-level literacy. The identification process is as follows:

• When enrolling their children in school, all parents complete a Home Language Survey (HLS) regardless of language background.

• English Language Development (ELD) teachers follow up with parents when the HLS mentions any language other than English.

• Based on this parent interview, the ELD teacher determines if they need to administer the WIDA Screener to assess the student’s English proficiency.

• The ELD teacher evaluates the results of this assessment as well as other classroom assessments to determine if the student qualifies for ELD services.

Students exit ELD when they demonstrate they are able to speak, understand, read and write English at a proficiency level that is comparable to a native English speaker. ML students demonstrate readiness to “graduate” from ELD services by

• achieving proficiency levels of 4.0 or higher on the ACCESS for ELLs annual assessment

• showing grade level proficiency in reading and writing using common assessment

When these criteria are met, the ELD teacher coordinates with other members of the instructional team to redesignate the student to monitored status. The student’s academic progress is monitored for two school years to ensure they are ready to completely exit from ELD services.