English Learner Program

English Learner Program

Click Here to read the Edison English Learner in Spanish

Click Here to read the Edison English Learner in Armenian

Click Here to read the Edison English Learner in English

Click Here to read the Parent Brochure in Spanish

Click Here to read the Parent Brochure in Armenian

Click Here to read the Parent Brochure in English

 

What services are available to help students learning English as a Second language?

English Language Development (ELD) is a specific method of teaching in English to build vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency in the English language. ELD specialists and classroom teachers work with groups of students who have limited English language proficiency as appropriate to each child’s level of proficiency.

Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE) is a specific method of teaching grade-level content (i.e. social studies, science, math, etc.) that helps English as second language learners to master the California content Standards.

All classroom teachers in BUSD are required to have special training and to practice SDAIE teaching strategies with English learners in their regular education classes.

 

How are results from the CELDT reported and used?

One of five levels of English proficiency is reported from the results of the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) in the areas of listening/speaking, reading, and writing:

  • Beginning
  • Early Intermediate
  • Intermediate
  • Early Advanced, and
  • Advanced

Children are tested on the CELDT upon entering BUSD and then annually thereafter to assess English language proficiency and individual progress over the years. Parents are given the results of these tests within 30 days of their receipt from the scoring service.

The CELDT as well as other measures (grades observations, classroom work samples, and standardized tests, etc.) are used to determine the child’s class placement. Teachers, parents, and specialists work together in making important educational program decisions.

 

English Language Advisory Committee

All parents of English learners are welcome to participate in their school site and District level English Language Advisory Councils. These groups provide valuable input for ongoing program improvement. They additionally receive information about curriculum, instruction, program evaluation, and budget. For more information contact your school site.

 

How schools decide eligibility for services?

California requires all parents to complete a Home Language Survey when registering children for school. The survey asks:

  1. What language did this student learn when first beginning to talk?
  2. What language do you use most frequently to speak to this student?
  3. What language does this student most frequently use at home?
  4. What language do adults speak at home most often?

If the answer to the first three questions on the survey is a language other than English, the child must take the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) as well as other measures to determine the child’s English proficiency level. By law, a parent cannot opt their child out of this testing.

 

What does the CELDT Measure?

Only trained examiners administer the CELDT to test listening and speaking in grades K-1. In grades 2 through 12, the test additionally evaluates reading and writing. The CELDT measures mastery of the California English Language Development standards that may be found at this website: