Welcome, EL Points at schools with low EL populations! Thank you for all that you do to support English Learners at your school. This portal will provide key resources to help you with your responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities as an EL Point at a school with a low EL population:

1) Identification of ELs new to SDP 

• Ensure secretary enters Home Primary Language when enrolling new students
• Run EL New Enrollments report to determine students eligible for WIDA Testing
• Request WIDA and KW-APT EL testing from the MAC

2) Identification of current ELs who have transferred to the school:

• Once a week, check EL Student Listing report to see if ELs have transferred to your school
  • Complete google form to notify MAC that a current EL has transferred to your school

3) Data Management:

• Rectify Certify (Infinite Campus) EL data errors
• Maintain EL Data Envelopes

4) Compliance Responsibilities:

• Coordinate ACCESS or Alt. ACCESS tests for all current ELs (January – February)
• Oversee general and dual-identified reclassification processes for current ELs (November – April)
  • Collaborate with Multilingual Manager to provide support for dual-identified reclassification meetings
• Monitor former ELs, ensuring language is not a barrier to their academic success (February)
• Collaborate with your school’s test coordinator to provide accommodations for ELs on Keystone and PSSA assessments (April – May)
• Reach out to Multilingual Manager to represent dual-identified students at IEP meetings (Ongoing)

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1) Identification of ELs new to SDP:

Step 1 

Who: Family, Enrollment Secretary

What: Enrollment and EL identification process at neighborhood school (note: students should always be registered and enrolled at the school, regardless of English Learner status)

• Secretary uses Language Line if families preferred language is not English
• Family completes Student Registration Form (EH-40) in their preferred language
• Enrollment secretary enters applicable data in Infinite Campus (Section 1: Home Primary Language, Country of Birth, and Date child first enrolled into a U.S. School; Section 2: Student Enrollment History; Section 3: Language Survey)

Step 2

Who: EL Point Person, Multilingual Assessment Center (MAC)

What: Initial Testing/Identification

• EL Point Person reviews EL New Enrollments report, EH-40, and EL Initial Placement Tab and determines who should be tested.
• The EL New Enrollments report should be run weekly to ensure that all students whose EH-40 indicates a response “other than English” are scheduled for screening.
• Students who do not have sufficient evidence of English proficiency are tested. EL Point Person fills out ESL Assessment Request.
• The MAC tests the student, enters results in Infinite Campus, notifies family of testing results, and ponies EL Data Envelope to student’s school

Next Steps:

• If the student requires ESL services, then the Coordinator of the MAC will offer the parent/guardian placement at a school with ESL services
• If the parent/guardian agrees to transfer the child to a school with an ESL program, the MAC office will coordinate the transfer from the neighborhood school to the new school
• However, the family has the right to keep the child at the neighborhood school
• If the parent/guardian wishes to keep the child at the neighborhood school, your Multilingual Manager will coordinate with your teachers for Instructional Support
  • There are also Instructional Resources provided in the sidebar of this page

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2) Identification of current ELs who have transferred to the school:

• Once a week, check EL Student Listing report to see if ELs have transferred to your school
• Complete google form to notify MAC that a current EL has transferred to your school
• If the parent/guardian decides to transfer the child to a school with an ESL program, the MAC office will coordinate the transfer from the neighborhood school to the new school, and  will notify both schools. If the parent decides to stay at the school, the MAC staff will notify the Principal, the Point Person, and the Multilingual Manager.
• At the end of the school year, a staff member from the MAC will contact the parent/guardian of students who will be attending a neighborhood middle/high school without an ESL program to discuss transferring the student to a school with an ESL program.

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3) Data Management:

• One way EL Points help ensure EL Data is accurate is to help correct errors in Infinite Campus data through Certify.  Certify is a data quality initiative that helps ensure correct data, since the data entered for each EL impacts instruction, resource allocation, and accountability. EL Points and Secretaries will receive an email notification when an EL at their school is missing a key data point.
  • Here are some resources to help navigate Certify:
    • Get help logging into Certify here
• Another way EL Points maintain EL Data is by maintaining the EL Data Envelopes. This video explains what the EL Data Envelope contains. Note that when a school runs out of current EL Data Envelopes, OMCP has an updated version (see here). Contact your Multilingual Manager when you run out of Data Envelopes.

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4) Compliance Responsibilities:

• See resources for General and Dual-Identified Reclassification here
• See resources for Monitoring of Former ELs here
• Reach out to Multilingual Manager to represent dual-identified students at IEP meetings

Reclassification

Reclassification is a state-mandated process. See an overview of General Reclassification and Dual-Identified Reclassification below.

General Reclassification:

In order to be considered for reclassification, an EL must demonstrate the ability to access challenging academic content and interact with other students and teachers both academically and socially in an English language setting.
Evidence of this ability is demonstrated by the ACCESS test overall score and language use inventories completed by teachers.

Dual-Identified Reclassification (ELs with IEPs):

ELs with IEPs whose ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS scores have decreased or plateaued over the course of two or three years — indicating that they may no longer be benefitting from ESL programming — are eligible for dual-identified reclassification.
Final dual-identified reclassification decisions are determined by ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS results and a school-based team’s recommendation. If your school does not have an ESL teacher, your Multilingual Manager will serve as the expert at these school-based team meetings.

Monitoring of Former ELs

In accordance with Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Guidelines, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) must actively monitor ELs in the first two years after they are reclassified (exited) from English as a Second Language (ESL) programming. At a minimum, schools must (1) track former ELs’ progress in all core academic classes, and (2) ensure that former ELs are not struggling academically as a result of persistent language barriers. Former ELs who are struggling academically as a result of persistent language barriers must be re-designated as active ELs and re-enrolled in ESL programming.

ACCESS Testing:

The ACCESS test is administered annually to monitor students’ progress in learning academic English, meeting the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for monitoring and reporting ELs’ progress.

• You should be receiving updates from Rachel Moore in Assessment. Here is the first email update regarding scheduling the test and ordering materials. If you have not received updates, please reach out to Assessment.
• Please reach out to your Multilingual Manager for support during ACCESS testing.

Accommodations for ELs on Keystone and PSSA assessments:

EL Points help identify accommodations needed for ELs:

• OMCP SY18-19 Accommodations Overview and Process
• PDE Guidelines for PSSA/Keystone Accommodations

IEP Meetings:

ELs with IEPs must have an ESL expert participate in every IEP meeting. Reach out to your Multilingual Manager for support.