1610 South 6th St. #100 Minneapolis, MN 55454  •  Phone: 612-339-5767

Student Support Services

English as a Second Language Program

Purpose of ESL Program

The purpose of the ESL program is to give non-native English speaking students additional instruction and resources for acquiring English so that they:

  • are able to communicate within the English speaking community
  • have access to the academic content and instruction in their mainstream classes
  • have the skills and resources to be independent learners and citizens

    • The program’s curriculum, instruction, and assessment are designed with these end results in mind and once a student has command of these abilities, as
    determined by the program’s exit criteria, ESL services are no longer needed.

    Program Model

    At all grade levels, the ESL program model is one of content-based ESL instruction.  This means that ESL and mainstream teachers work closely together to coordinate their curriculum so that the ESL teacher is supporting the learning taking place in the mainstream classroom by teaching language and literacy through the content areas.  This support may take many forms including pull-out, inclusion, or team-teaching, depending on the needs of the students and the available resources of the teachers.

    Program Entrance Criteria

    To be eligible for ESL services, a student must meet the entrance criteria as follows:

    1. Indicates on a home language questionnaire (HLQ) that the student:

      • First learned a language other than English OR
      • Most frequently chooses to speak a language other than English OR
      • Resides in a home where a language other than English is most frequently used

      AND

    2. Scores Non or Limited English proficiency on any of the following assessments:

      • Oral IDEA Proficiency Test
      • Reading IDEA Proficiency Test
      • Writing IDEA Proficiency Test

      OR

    3. Scores below grade level in any of the following areas of the Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey:

      • Picture Vocabulary
      • Verbal Analogies
      • Letter-Word Identification
      • Dictation

      AND

    4. Opinions of the guardians, ESL teachers, and classroom teachers based on assessments and observations.

    Program Exit Criteria

    To be eligible to exit the ESL program, the student must meet ALL of the following exit criteria:

    1. Scores Fluent English proficiency on ALL of the following assessments:

      • Oral IDEA Proficiency Test
      • Reading IDEA Proficiency Test
      • Writing IDEA Proficiency Test

    2. Scores at or above grade level on ALL of the following areas of the Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey:

      • Picture Vocabulary
      • Verbal Analogies
      • Letter-Word Identification
      • Dictation

    3. Scores a 4 or 5 on the state MN SOLOM assessment

    4. Is designated fully proficient in English reading AND writing by state LEP assessments:

      • Scores advanced on the K-2 Literacy Rubric OR
      • Scores 5 on the reading portion and 4 on the writing portion of the TEAE

    5. Opinions of the guardians, ESL teachers, and classroom teachers based on assessments and observations.

    Students’ and Guardians’ Legal Rights

    The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
    color, or national origin in all federally assisted programs, including public
    schools (charter schools fall in this category as well).  This means that non-
    native English speaking students must be given access to all school activities
    including, but not limited to, the curriculum, special programs, and services.  
    The Civil Rights Act also states that non-native English speaking families must
    be given information regarding all school activities and programs in a medium
    and a language they can understand.

    In the 1974 case Lau v. Nichols, the United States Supreme Court ruled that
    identical education is not equal education under the Civil Rights Act.  They
    stated that schools must take “affirmative steps” to overcome educational
    barriers faced by non-native English speaking students.  This means that
    eligible students have the right to receive additional language instruction.  
    As a result of this Supreme Court ruling, Congress passed the Equal Educational
    Opportunity Act extending these rights to students in all states.

    In 1980, Minnesota passed the Minnesota Education for Limited English
    Proficiency Act which states that all students residing in a district have the
    right to access all services for which s/he is eligible in that district,
    including English language learner and bilingual education services.

    The Privacy Act of 1972 states that a school cannot ask for or keep record of a
    student’s social security number.  In conjunction with this act, the United
    States Supreme Court ruled in the 1982 Plyler v. Doe case that legal U.S.
    residency is not a requirement for enrollment in a public school (including
    charter schools).  This means that schools cannot refuse a student enrollment
    based on their residency status and cannot explicitly or implicitly ask for any
    information or documents related to residency including, but not limited to,
    social security numbers, passports, birth certificates, visas, or residency or
    green cards.  In tandem, schools are not obligated to provide United States
    Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly Immigration and Naturalization
    Services) with any information regarding the residency status of students or
    families.

    Program Staff

    Ms. Berven Chong is the ESL Program Coordinator and teaches K-4 ESL.  Ms. Weber
    teaches grades 5-8 ESL.