M1: Identifying ELLs - The How

Have you ever seen that big stack of paperwork that parents are required to fill out at the beginning of every school year? If you have your own school-age children, you may have even completed those forms yourself recently. Well, among that stack of forms, there is one form that is essential to the identification of our students who are ELs. That form is called the Home Language Survey.  It is required by law in the state of Texas that each child has a HLS in their permanent record folder.

The Home Language Survey asks 2 key questions:

  1. What language is spoken in the child’s home most of the time?
  2. What language does the child speak most of the time?

If the language written is anything other than English or indicates that any language is spoken instead of or in addition to English, the process for determining an appropriate placement for this student begins. ** this is important information that could be on your TExES exam.

Here is what the Download Home Language Survey (HLS)

looks like in Texas.

TEA has created a the HLS form in a variety of languages for schools to use. While your district will probably have these on hand.  

 

  ?...Check mark

 

 

 

The student's records are then turned over to a special group called the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC). 

The LPAC is composed of at least 3 people including:

  • a campus administrator,
  • a professional bilingual educator, and/or
  • a professional transitional language educator/ESL teacher,
  • parent of an ELL participating in one of the district's EL programs

Note: No parent serving on the LPAC shall be an employee of the school district.  AND did you notice it said the parent's child must participate in the program?  This is important.  They cannot be LEP denials.

LPAC meetings are to be held:

  • within one month of the initial enrollment, for identification and/or review,
  • prior to state assessments for determination of appropriate assessments and designated supports,
  • at the end of the year for annual review and for the following year’s placement decisions, and
  • as needed to discuss student progress.

All these details can be overwhelming, so let me provide you with a little more detailed explanation...