State
and Federal Programs
785-296-2306
785-296-5867 (fax)
TEN FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS (FAQ)
REGARDING THE EDUCATION OF
LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT
(LEP) STUDENTS/
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
(ELLs)
1.
What is the
correct term for students whose first language is not English
and they are not yet proficient in academic
English?
Limited English Proficient
(LEP) or English Language Learner (ELL) – both terms are
used interchangeably. Culturally and Linguistically
Diverse (CLD) is another term that is used.
2.
What is a
school district’s responsibility for educating ELLs?
A school district must
provide language support services (offer an English as a
Second Language – ESL –
program) until that student is proficient enough in
English to be successful in
the mainstream classroom without additional language
support services.
3.
What if the school district only has a few ELLs?
Even if only one ELL is enrolled
in the school district, s/he must receive ESL
services by that school district.
4.
What constitutes an ESL program?
An ESL program is simply an
ESL endorsed teacher (or, a teacher working
towards obtaining his/her ESL endorsement) providing language
support services
to the ELL.
5.
How much time per day should the ELL receive ESL
services?
Ideally, the ELL should be
with an ESL endorsed teacher throughout the day,
with the teacher modifying the content to make it
comprehensible to the ELL.
When this is not possible,
the ELL should receive ESL services at least one period
per day.
6.
What is the ESL endorsement?
The ESL endorsement is not a
stand-alone certificate, but an attachment to an
existing license.
Depending on the issuing institution of higher education, it
requires either 15 or 18 credit hours plus a passing score on
the Praxis II.
7.
What if the school district does NOT provide ESL
services to the ELL?
This is a violation of Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that district
could get cited by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
8.
How does a school district identify a student as ELL?
Every school MUST have a
question on its enrollment form asking what the
student’s home language is.
If a language other than English is indicated, then the
student MUST be tested for his/her English proficiency. If the student scores
below “proficient” on the English assessment, then that
student is identified as
“ELL” and must receive ESL
services.
9.
What if the student speaks English perfectly well, does
the school still
need to assess the student for his/her level
of English proficiency?
YES. There are two types of language
proficiency: social and academic. Just
because a person can speak and listen to a second language
well, do not assume
that person has literacy skills in that language.
10.
Is there funding available for ELLs?
Yes, both state and federal.
NOTE: THIS FAQ LIST OF
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WAS
PROVIDED BY
MELANIE STUART OF KSDE IN DECEMBER 2004.