The Multilingual Learner Program is designed to provide academic services to English language learners (ELLs) while they learn English.  ELLs are students whose language backgrounds are other than English and whose proficiency is not yet developed to the point where they can profit fully from English-only instruction. Our goal is that students will meet challenging learning standards and develop English language proficiency in an environment where language and cultural assets are recognized as valuable resources to learning. 

The most common languages in EVSD are Marshallese, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian. Currently, there are over 160 active students, K-12, enrolled in the program. 

Whenever a new student enrolls in one of our schools:

• Parents are provided a Home Language Survey and asked “What language did your child first learn to speak?” and “What language does your child use the most at home?” If the answer to either question is a language other than English, one of the ELL Specialists administers the WIDA Screener. Based upon the screener results students may qualify to receive ML support.

• Students successfully transition from the ELL program when they meet the exit criteria of the WIDA annual assessment. The school district provides additional academic support to students who need it for two years after scoring Proficient and exiting from the program.

• Parents/guardians and classroom teachers or school counselors are encouraged to contact one of the ELL Specialists to review the transitional or Proficient student’s academic progress and needs for additional services. 

Our Certified ELL Support staff have successful classroom experience and are endorsed in ELL content & evidence based pedagogy. Our classified ELL Specialists are all highly trained with many years of teaching/support experience.  Whenever needed, access interpretation/translation for most of the primary home languages of our parents/guardians through regional contacts, community agencies, universities, other school districts, or online support through Language Line Interpreters.

ML Services:

Elementary School

• Supportive Mainstream- Pull-out: A program used at all elementary schools. The ELD teacher meets with students for 20-30 minute blocks within the regular school day, 1-5 days a week. Wherever daily pull-out is not feasible for all students, ELD teachers prioritize by language acquisition level.

• Supportive Mainstream -Push-in: At some schools, a mainstream classroom teacher has the ELD teacher in their classroom for 30 to 40 minutes to work with MLs in either small groups (for classrooms with a mixture of first-language English speakers and MLs) or whole class (in sheltered instruction classrooms where all students are ELLs).

Middle School and High School

• Content-Based Sheltered Instruction: Students who qualify for services based on the WIDA Screener assessment are placed in sheltered grade level courses for English language arts.

• Accessing Curriculum in Content Areas: For language arts access to the content area curriculum is provided through the dual endorsed ESL/content area teacher. For mathematics, social studies and science courses, students are placed in classes with highly qualified math and science teachers and receive support from bilingual specialists. In all elective courses for which language is not a particular barrier to instruction (P. E., fine arts, etc.), all MLs are enrolled in the mainstream classroom.