Crystalanne Duncan-Holmes
Grand Canyon University: ESL-223N
3 November 2012
Whitney Johnson
The following essay will briefly discuss the procedures that are being utilized in order to identify ELLs at the Philadelphia public school District. Included in this discussion will be what informal and formal assessments are being conducted to determine ELL student’s language proficiency and how English language development is monitored over time. How Educators are informed of Ell’s language proficiency status, how educators make changes in their daily assessments in order to accommodate ELLs and make sure they receive appropriate grade level content and develop language simultaneously will be included in this discussion as well. There are “approximately13, 000 students in pre-k through grade twelve who are English Language Learners (ELLs) in the school district of Philadelphia (SDP)” (The School District of Philadelphia n.d.). In order to effectively identify and place ELLs there are several procedures or steps that are being utilized as well as certain criteria that must be met before a student can be identified as ELL. The three basic procedures or steps are speaking with and having parents fill out a language background questionnaire. Speaking with the parents is a very important aspect of identifying ELLs. The second procedure or step is having ELLs take a language proficiency assessment. Last but not least the educational records of all potential ELLs are reviewed. The criteria the must be met is as follows: According to the Principal at the local public school he says “students must have all required paper work on file and be fully enrolled in the school before any assessments can occur, potential ELLs must speak a language other than English, Another term for this would be English as a second language (ESL). Students who are potentially identified as ELLs must have a challenging comprehending English as well as reading English,
References: Colorado, Colorin (2007). Informal Assessments for English Language Learners. 4 November 2012 from www.colorincolrado.org/educators/assessment/informal/ ESOL and Migrant Education (N.D.) Assessing English Learners Retrieved 4 November 2012 from www.sarasotacountyschools.net/departments/esol/default.aspx?id=22111#classroomassessments The School District of Philadelphia, (N.D.) Programs and Services. Retrieved 4 November 2012 from wwwgui.phila.k12.pa.us/office/m/multilingual-education/programs-services