Northridge Local School District English Learner (EL) Overview:
Northridge Local Schools is committed to providing the best second language acquisition support to all of our Limited English Proficient (LEP) students so that they can successfully access the curriculum in the classroom.
This initial overview is intended to provide guidance for parents and teachers of LEP students. Further information can be obtained by communicating with school counselors or English Learner (EL) teachers at the building level.
How is a student identified?
Every student that enrolls in the District fills out a Home Language Survey upon registration. If any of the five questions have an answer other than English, then that student is assessed by our EL staff in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Based on this assessment, a student either qualifies as Limited English Proficient (LEP) and is eligible for English Learner (EL) services or does not qualify.
What happens after a student qualifies for English Learner services?
The parent will receive notification of qualification for the EL services with a letter. The EL teacher will share what type of instruction each LEP student receives based on their needs assessment. This information will be included in the parent letter sent home.
Northridge Local Schools provides different types of EL services:
- Pull out service - to support EL students (provided out of the general education classroom environment) with lessons based on the 10 English Language Proficiency Standards.
- Inclusion or push in service with a small group - to support EL students with lessons in which the EL teacher assists the student in general education classes.
Guidelines for the amount of services provided for students depend on their LEP designation:
- Emergent Students - Beginner and intermediate students will receive the most services with the EL teacher.
- Progressing Students - Students who are in between the intermediate to advanced levels will receive services at their building.
- Trial Mainstream - These students are monitored and provided EL services, as needed.
- Proficient Students - These students are exited once their OELPA (Ohio English Learner Proficiency Assessment) score indicates proficiency.
Progress monitoring for LEP students
EL students receive lessons based on the 10 English Language Proficiency standards given by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). Lessons include morphology, phonology, syntax, semantics, discourse, and pragmatics aspects of second language acquisition.
Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA)
In accordance with the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), EL students will take the OELPA test second semester to monitor progress. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening are assessed on the test.
The OELPA assesses three overall performance levels: Emerging, Progressing, and Proficient. The performance levels are determined as follows:
- Emerging students are those scoring any combination of 1’s and 2’s across all four domains.
- Progressing students are those scoring any combination across the four domains that do not fall into Proficient or Emerging.
- Proficient students are those scoring any combination of 4’s and 5’s across all four domains.
Exiting the EL program
Based on the ODE requirements, a student is reclassified (no longer an English Learner) when the student has attained a performance level of Proficient on the OELPA. The Proficient performance level is defined as domain/test level scores of 4s and 5s in any combination across all four domains (listening, reading, writing, and speaking).