Limited-English Students Make Progress in District 63

While East Maine Elementary District 63 schools as a group did not meet the annual yearly progress standards under the No Child Left Behind Law, the district got some good news about one subgroup of students: those with limited English proficiency.

Students in District 63 with limited English proficiency met their Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives in the last school year, District 63 Superintendent Scott Clay announced at the Nov. 2 school board meeting.

“That’s an absolutely fantastic achievement,” Clay said, especially since about a third of the district’s students are considered to have limited English proficiency.

Earlier:

Some students who speak Spanish are taught in self-contained bilingual classrooms, but most students – including all those who are not native speakers of English or Spanish – receive help from English as a Second Language teachers, who either pull them out of their classrooms or offer support within their classrooms. About a year ago, the district began using the Sherltered Instruction Observation Protocol, which aims to help non-ESL teachers teach their students who need help with English. The district is in the process of training all teachers how to use the framework.

Clay congratulated administrators Charlene Cobb, the executive director of teaching and learning and Erin Centanni, the coordinator of bilingual and ESL services for their work preparing all of the district’s teachers to work with students who are not native English speakers.

“All of our teachers need to teach as if they are ESL teachers because all of our classrooms have limited English learners in them,” Clay said.

The schools were recognized because the LEP students, as a subgroup, met their goals for annual yearly progress on the Illinois State Acheivement Test last year, Clay said.

The Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives are used to determine whether students are making progress in achieving proficiency in English. Once they are determined to be proficient, they are no longer part of the LEP group.

Because students move out of the LEP category, only 11 percent of students at are considered Limited English Proficient. Apollo Elementary School, meanwhile, has more than 44 percent of its students considered to have limited English profiency, while Mark Twain School is more than 46 percent limited English proficient.