ELD Instructional Program Goals
Every school district shall provide a program for each student whose dominant language is not English for the purpose of facilitating the student’s achievement of English proficiency and the academic standards under section 4.12.
- To increase English language proficiency skills so that students meet state and district academic standards
- To increase English language skills so that ELLs can communicate for social and instructional purposes with in the school setting.
THE LANGUAGE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM
Each LEA must have a written program plan that includes:
• a detailed description of the instructional models implemented by the LEA,
• the process for identification of ELs,
• the criteria for program exit, and
• the monitoring process after exit from a language instructional program.
The description must be sufficient to provide guidance to school personnel and families regarding the programs and services that students will receive. The language instructional program must include:
Instructional Models
The Program model(s) that the LEA adopts for ELLs must be:
1) based on an educational theory recognized as sound by some experts in the
field or considered by experts as a legitimate experimental strategy;
2) reasonably calculated, including provisions for resources and personnel,
to implement the theory effectively; and
3) evaluated and adjusted where needed to ensure language barriers are
actually being overcome.
Castañeda v. Pickard, 648 F.2d 989 (1981)
Program administrators planning the instructional models should consider LEA demographics, and student characteristics. Program administrators may choose between an ESL-only and a bilingual education with ESL model.
Options for English language instructional programs are charted in the following
Characteristics of the Major Program Models for LEP Students (PDF)
Planned Instruction for English language acquisition (ESL) classes
• Direct English language instruction may not take place during other content
classes which are required under 22 Pa Code § 4.
• Planned Instruction in the ESL Program must include daily instruction supporting
the program model chosen by the LEA.
• Language instruction must be commensurate with the student’s proficiency
level (i.e. students at levels 1-3 require a greater amount of language instruction
than students at levels 4 and 5). This includes both direct language instruction
and adaptations to instruction/assessment in all content areas.
• Exact hours of direct language instruction by proficiency level must be
determined based on student need and program/instructional delivery model.
Instruction must meet all requirements under Lau v Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 (1974)
and Castañeda v. Pickard, 648 F.2d 989 (1981).
• Guidelines to consider when planning direct instruction of ESL:
– Entering (level 1) / Beginning (level 2) students: 2 hours
– Developing (level 3): 1-2 hours
– Expanding (level 4): 1 hour
– Bridging (level 5): up to 1 hour or support dictated by student need
Levels are defined by the PA ELPS
• ESL must be delivered via curriculum aligned with Pennsylvania’s Reading,
Writing, Speaking, and Listening Standards, and the PA ELPS for ELLs.
• In order to acquire English, students with LEP must receive instruction the
same as they would receive instruction for other curricular areas. In other
words, ESL/Bilingual classes must be part of the daily schedule and thoughtfully
planned from the administrative level so that students are not removed from
other content classes to receive instruction for English language acquisition.
• As the proficiency of a student advances into the upper levels
(i.e. Expanding/Bridging), a student may require only minimal instructional time,
which may be in the form of ongoing support as needed. HOWEVER, this support
must be planned, structured time within the school day.
Planned Instruction in Academic content areas (content area classes)
• The language instructional program must also provide ELLs with meaningful,
comprehensible access to instruction in all content areas required by
Pennsylvania academic standards.
• The PA ELPS PreK–12 are an overlay to the academic standards and must
be incorporated in planned instruction for ELLs by all teachers.
• The LEA must support instructional planning and evaluation efforts between
the ESL/Bilingual teachers and the content-area teachers by providing common
planning time as appropriate.
• To access the PA ELPS PreK-12, visit www.pde.state.pa.us/esl. For information
on research-based techniques and models for adapting content instruction
delivered in English to meet the needs of ELLs, and information about bilingual
education, visit http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/index.html.