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English Language Learners » English Language Learners

English Language Learners

Union Hill School District’s primary goal of the English Language Learner program is to develop proficiency in English and in the district’s core curriculum as effectively and as rapidly as possible.

State and federal law require that local educational agencies administer a state test of English Language Proficiency (ELP) to eligible students in kindergarten through grade twelve.  Parents registering their students in the Union Hill School District must complete a Home Language Survey, which contains the following questions:

  1. Which language did your son/daughter learn when he/she first began to speak?
  2. What language does your son/daughter most frequently use at home?
  3. What language do you use most frequently to speak to your son/daughter?
  4. Name the language most often spoken by the adults at home.

If any of the responses to the first three questions is a language other than English, California Education Code requires that the child be assessed within 30 days of enrollment. The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) is the mandated state test for determining English language proficiency (ELP). It is administered as an initial assessment to newly enrolled students whose primary language is not English, as indicated on a home language survey; and annually as a summative assessment to students who have been previously identified as EL students. 

All English Language Learners have designated and integrated ELD instruction daily by placement in general education classrooms with credentialed teachers who are trained to use Specifically Designed Academic Instruction in English methods.

English Language Learners who have developed adequate proficiency in English will be re-designated as Fluent English Proficient (RFEP) when they can meet the following criteria:

  1. ELPAC Overall Performance Level (PL) 4;
  2. Demonstration of “basic skills” in English from an objective assessment that is also given to English proficient students of the same age;
  3. Teacher Evaluation;
  4. Parent Opinion and Consultation