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Home : TEACHING & LEARNING : English Language Learners Services

English Language Learners Services

Director of ELL & AT Services: Misael Nascimento | Secretary: Esmeralda Ramirez

Vision Statement

The English Language Learners (ELL) Department supports the district’s mission and strategic plan in assuring equal educational access for ELL students. We recognize as a school community that we share the responsibility of ensuring that ELL students develop linguistic and academic skills to become productive members of society. ELL students participate in academically challenging programs that respect, and build upon the unique cultural and linguistic attributes they bring to our learning community.

Our programs will:

• Comply with state and federal laws
• Function in cooperation with all other educational activities, not in isolation
• Seek community input in order to benefit students, improve instruction and strengthen collaboration
• Educate ELL students to the same standard of excellence as all other students
• Embrace, respect and build upon the unique cultural and linguistic characteristics students and families bring to our school community
• Ensure that our school community is informed about effective pedagogy and research on second language acquisition
• Make a genuine effort to communicate with parents in a language they understand
   

Programs:
TBE | TPI | Dual Language | Sheltered | ESL | Resource | Developmental | Beginners

Dual Language Program

The Dual Language Program provides a unique opportunity for students to participate in the regular district curriculum in two languages. This is a program focused on students' academic growth and achievement while having instruction in two languages. Classrooms are composed of students from two groups, native English speakers and native Spanish speakers. Children participate in academic and social learning opportunities together developing expertise in each other's language and culture as they learn the curriculum.

Dual Language Mandatory Informational Meetings  Click here for more information.

Dual Language & ELL All Day Kindergarten Update
Click to read more | En español

Program Goals

1. Students participating in the Dual Language Program will demonstrate academic achievement at similar grade level performance standards as students participating monolingual English-speaking curriculum.

2. Students will be accurate and effective communicators in both English and Spanish through oral dialogue, reading, and writing at age appropriate achievement levels.

3. Students will use both English and Spanish comfortably and effectively in age appropriate academic and social settings.  

The Program
The Dual Language Program is a K-5 learning experience in which native English speaking students and native Spanish speaking students learn the regular curriculum in two languages. Students learn and grow together to become bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural. 

Participants
The Dual Language program will provide learning opportunities for native Spanish and native English speaking kindergarten students.  

Admission Process
The Dual Language program maintains a balance of native Spanish speaking students and native English speaking students. Students who come from a Spanish bilingual home will be tested with the ACCESS test to determine their language proficiency level.

The Dual Language program is open to all families in District 308. Entrance into the kindergarten program is through a screening and/or lottery. To be eligible for the selection pool, parents must attend one of several information nights and complete a student/family profile. The information nights are to discuss the appropriateness of the program for each child and to secure parent commitment to the goals of dual language. Two groups of students will be enrolled in dual language to form each new kindergarten class – native Spanish speaking students who do not meet English proficiency levels and one from a group of native English speaking students who are selected in a lottery system. Parents will be informed in May if their child will participate in the program.

*Special Education and Academically Talented students are welcome in the program so long as there is no conflict due to the degree of needs demonstrated by a child’s Individualized Education Plan.

Due to the nature of Spanish language instruction in the Dual Language Program, native English speaking students will only be admitted at the kindergarten level. Native Spanish speaking students will be assessed to determine the correct academic placement.

Enrollment priority is given to siblings of students currently in the program.

Teachers
The Dual Language Program will be instructed by a teacher certified in both elementary general education instruction and bilingual Spanish education instruction.

The Curriculum

The Benefits

1. Educational: Students who participate in dual language programs demonstrate increased cognitive development. Participants develop stronger vocabulary, problem solving skills, and word analysis skills. Students become bilingual and biliterate while mastering the same academic content as a general education classroom. Students also have greater abilities to provide multiple meanings for symbols (iconicity) which is a benefit in learning science, algebra, and calculus.
    
2. Cognitive: Dual language students statistically outperform monolingual peers in beginning with the late intermediate grades (5th and 6th). Students are able to translate and code switch between languages. Students regardless of academic ability range can successfully learn to their potential in a dual language program.
    
3. Social-Cultural Benefits: Students demonstrate communication skills in two languages. Due to the learning environment that requires collaborative development and support mechanisms. Children also learn to become world citizens.
    
4. Economic Benefits: Students will develop greater job skills and marketability. The Dual Language program opens worldwide market opportunities.  The Dual Language program is a kindergarten through fifth grade experience. Language development and proficiency is a long term commitment. Since limited space is available, we ask families to commit to at least a full year of the program. When a child leaves the program, space is made available to qualified native Spanish speaking students. Once a child is removed, there is no guaranteed of re-entry. New waiting lists are created each year. 

English Language Learners Program - Grades K-5

Providing Opportunities for Students to Acquire English as a Second Language

ELL Programs

ELL Transition Guideline

Forms

WIDA Can-Do Descriptors
Click here to read more

Dual Language & ELL All Day Kindergarten Update
Click to read more | En español

Kindergarten Program

1. Focus: Children of kindergarten age who are identified as being eligible for English Language Learning services by the Illinois State Learning Standards for English Language Learners. Students are identified through the MODEL/ACCESS test and teacher input.
    
2. Goal: Provide curricular and linguistic support for children entering the school setting. Children need the support due to the lack of acadmic English and little social English.
    
3. Time Frame: 1-4 years
    
4. Delivery Design: Students are in a single graded classroom. Children participate in guided activities in reading, mathematics, social studies and science with a focus on initial language acquisition. As children progress they receive more academic classes in the regular education classroom. The ELL teacher provides services to support language and vocabulary activities to the kindergarten curriculum.
    
5. Instructional Framework: High visual, high vocabulary, high verbal, emphasis on speaking, listening and writing. Academic support focuses on language acquisition.  

Standards for Completion - PDF
Entering | Beginning | Developing

Beginners Program

1. Focus: Children are identified as "Entering" by the Illinois State Learning Standards for English Language Learners. Students are identified through the ACCESS test and teacher input if applicable. Children need support in academic English.
    
2. Goal: Provide basic interpersonal communicative skills and cognitive academic language proficiencies to transition students into effective learning environments.
    
3. Time Frame: 6-12 months of instruction
    
4. Delivery Design:  Students are in a classroom grades 1-5. Children participate in guided activities in reading, mathematics, social studies and science with a focus on initial language acquisition. Students are in regular education classrooms for art, music, physical education, learning center, lunch, recess and field trips.
    
5. Instructional Framework: High visual, high vocabulary, basic instruction in content areas based on strong language acquisition techniques.

Sheltered English Instructional Program

1. Focus: Children are identified as "Beginning" or "Developing" by the Illinois State Learning Standards for English Language Learners. Students are identified through the ACCESS test and teacher input. Children need supports due to lack of academic English and little social English
    
2. Goal: Provide curriculum and content-based instruction while emphasizing cognitive academic language proficiencies.
    
3. Time Frame: 1-4 Years
    
4. Delivery Design: Students are in a single-graded classroom. Children participate in guided activities in reading, mathematics, social studies and science with a focus on initial language acquisition. As children progress they receive more academic classes in the regular education classroom. Students will be mainstreamed into the regular education classroom one subject area at a time. Students are in regular education classrooms for art, music, physical education, learning center, lunch, and recess.
    
5. Instructional Framework: High visual, high vocabulary, high verbal, emphasis on speaking, listening and writing. Academic support focuses on language acquisition.