English Learner Education
**Preliminary**
English Language Education (ELE) provides programs and services to students and families whose primary language is not English and who are not yet proficient in English. The programs provide support at each school, with services focused on students’ English language acquisition, literacy development, social integration, and academic achievement. All programs are designed to meet the educational needs of English learners (ELs) by providing English language instruction and specially designed academic support as required by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The goals are for students to learn English and meet appropriate grade-level academic achievement standards for promotion and graduation. Students remain in the ELE program until they have met state-established benchmarks for English proficiency. In Brookline, while students spend an average of 1.96 years in our program before reaching English proficiency, the program does not limit the amount of time a student spends in our program. After students have exited from the ELE program, they are monitored by ELE staff for an additional 4 years to ensure they continue to meet grade-level expectations. Thus, program resources are distributed to ensure equitable caseloads among EL teachers across schools, equitable English language development instruction by level of proficiency, and equitable access to materials. Students enrolled in ELE receive support from a highly qualified, licensed EL teacher.
Integrated Sheltered English Immersion (SEI)
Integrated Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) incorporates strategies to make content area instruction more comprehensible for ELs and to promote language development. Brookline follows an integrative SEI program model: students work with ELE staff for part of their school day on direct instruction of English as a Second Language (ESL) focused on developing speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. For the remainder of the day, students are integrated into their grade level classrooms where they participate in instruction and activities with English speaking peers. In these classrooms, students’ learning is supported by sheltering strategies to make content comprehensible and develop content area academic language. The amount of integration and support varies according to each student’s needs, grade, and level of English proficiency. Only students in grades K through 12 receive SEI; students in Pre-K do not receive direct ESL services.
Brookline’s K-12 Integrated SEI Program serves students from 47 languages including:
Native Language Support Programs (NLSPs)
Brookline currently offers six NLSPs. These are only available to students in grades K-8 whose primary language is Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Russian, or Spanish. All NLSPs are part of Brookline’s Integrated Sheltered English Immersion Programs.
In each NLSP school, there is at least one EL teacher who is fluent in the native language. Students enrolled in an NLSP may be assigned to one of these teachers who provide primary language support as needed for clarification purposes or additional explanations only. The language of instruction is English and materials are also in English.
As of October 30, 2019, approximately 22.0% of Brookline’s English learners attend a school outside of their zoned school(s) in order to receive native language support.
English Proficiency Assessments - Initial Language Screenings
A 1.00 ELE Enrollment and Assessment Specialist coordinates the administration of all initial English screenings to students who may be eligible for ELE services. Under federal and state law, districts must take appropriate steps to identify English learners so they can receive instruction that is designed to assist them in learning the English language and subject matter content, and their parents/guardians can participate in the decision-making process relative to the type of program the identified English learners will receive. When a new student enrolls in a school district, it is the district’s obligation to determine whether the student is an English learner by following appropriate procedures and to place the student in the appropriate instructional program to support content area and English language learning (603 CMR 14.02). During the 18-19 school year, 895 students were screened for ELE.
Throughout the year, the district also provides additional compensation to qualified test administrators who administer the required initial language screenings. Test administrators are licensed Brookline educators who have completed mandatory training to administer the assessments. Licensed test administrators are compensated at the district’s workshop leader rate for their time.
The program anticipates needing 375 hours for test administrators. In addition to the actual cost of assessment materials and equipment, students in all grades who qualify for ELE services, may also require additional documents including Opt-Out Forms and Course Recommendation Sheets (6-12). All students who qualify for ELE receive a Program Description and Parent Notification. Assessments consist of the following:
Translation/Interpretation
As required by state and federal law (Title VI; EEOA: 20 U.S.C. 1703(f); M.G.L. c. 76, s. 5; 603 CMR 26.02(2), the Public Schools of Brookline have procedures in place to provide translation and interpretation services to parents/guardians with limited English proficiency. ELE oversees the majority of translation and interpretation needs for the district. It does not coordinate any required bilingual special education evaluations; those are managed by the Office of Student Services. ELE provides translation and interpretation services for special education (e.g. IEPs, out-of-district placement meetings), district-wide resources (ex. K-8 curriculum overviews), school and teacher documents (ex. progress report comments), and parent/guardian-teacher meetings.
Over the last 10 years, Brookline’ English learner population has increased by 58% (539 in 2009, 851 in 2019 - based on November 1st figures). During this time, the district-wide administrator support has remained the same (1.0 Director of English Language Education). Further, state and federal regulations pertaining to the education of English learners have also increased significantly. Some of the most notable changes include:
• An increase in the amount of monitoring for students who have recently exited (or graduated) from ELE. Students must now be monitored for 4 years (up from
2 years under previous regulations) and DESE has recommended that an increase in the number of monitoring check-ins from once a year to twice a year.
• An added requirement to screen and identify Pre-K students. Currently, we have over 90 Pre-K students who require a screening and have not been screened
due to insufficient staffing at the district level.
• Changes in EL-related professional development requirements for core-academic teachers, including the SEI Endorsement and 15 hours of ELE-related
professional development per 5-year professional licensing cycle.
• Adoption of the MCAS 2.0 assessment, which adds accommodations for ELs, which must be documented and tracked. The Special Education department has
Education Team Facilitators at every school to assist with this on their side where no such position exists on the ELE side.
• New regulations regarding the identification and instruction of students with limited or interrupted education (more commonly known as SLIFE). This includes
updated intake procedures as well as the development of individualized learning plans for each student identified.
• The recently signed LOOK Bill will require many changes and updates to our ELE program, including the creation of an English Learner Parent Advisory
Council, an increase in data collection/reporting, and changes to our methods of instruction and curriculum as well as training to support those changes.
• The creation of Student Success Plans for all English Learners who do not meet DESE performance benchmarks. The benchmarks will include: 1. Future Target
2. Progress Indicator 3. Student Growth Percentile for ACCESS 4. Difficulty Index.
• In response to updated guidance under Title III of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the district has also increased its family and community outreach
services to be in compliance with one of its priorities which is for districts to provide and implement effective activities and strategies that enhance or
supplement language instruction educational programs for ELs which include parent, family, and community engagement activities.
• Beyond changes at the state and federal level, there have been multiple district-level initiatives that require continued oversight at the district level including
but not limited to the adoption of adjusted grading guidelines for ELs in grades 6-8, ELE progress reports, the use of the Discussion Guide for Culturally and
Linguistically Diverse Students (used by Child Study Teams), changes in ELE assessment, and progress reports for opt-out ELs.
An ELE Assistant Director or ELE Elementary and Secondary Coordinators are needed to share leadership responsibilities with the ELE Director related to overall program management, curriculum development, instructional leadership, student success initiatives, professional development, budget/grants, family and community outreach, supervision and evaluation, and legal compliance.
Other Personnel
• All salary accounts include projected grade and step movement for the next fiscal year.
• FTE Increase (Override): Over the last several years, Brookline’s ELE program has experienced exponential growth. Each year, the district has needed 0.20 -
1.00 FTEs to meet the teaching and learning needs of our enrollment increases. In addition, the ELE program has experienced a significant increase in the
number of English learners with disabilities who require specialized English language and special education services. Thus, the ELE program has identified a
need for additional FTE for Driscoll (0.40), Lawrence (0.10), and Runkle (0.50) in the FY 2021 operating budget.
The additional FTE enables us to hire a duly licensed Special Education - EL teacher to work with students at Runkle and Driscoll Schools. These FTE allow EL teachers to provide students with the instruction they need to appropriately support their continuous development of English and acquisition of content knowledge.
Services, Supplies, Other and Capital
• There are no changes other than re-balancing among categories.
FY21 Objectives
• Bring all documents, programs, processes, and procedures into compliance with state and federal regulations.
• Begin to develop DESE required ESL Model Curriculum Units.
• Enhance ELE family and community engagement activities including Community Picnic, Community Resource Fair, Community Lounge Workshops, Family
Literacy Groups, and English Conversation Classes.
• Develop new ELE Progress Reports for grades K-5.
FY20 Accomplishments
• Established English Learner Parent Advisory Council.
• Streamlined intake and assessment process for prospective English learners.
• Increased professional development offerings, particularly training opportunities in Sheltered English Immersion, for all staff related to teaching ELs.