Parents:
In February and March, all K-12 students who are English Learners in the state of Michigan will take an language proficiency assessment called the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs 2.0. This assesses students’ English listening, speaking, reading, and writing proficiencies. We EL teachers use these scores to monitor students’ progress, plan their EL services, and determine when students have achieved adequate proficiency to exit the EL program.
For more information about the WIDA ACCESS, please see the following parent handout (Arabic, Spanish, and Vietnamese versions available). Please contact your child’s EL teacher with any questions or to find out when your child will be testing.
Also, see here for the February elementary school lunch menu in Spanish.
Teachers:
TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) is one of the leading international organizations for professionals working with ELs. They have recently produced a resource called “The 6 Principles for Exemplary Teaching of English Learners.” These can apply to all teachers working with EL students and include:
- Know your learners
- Create conditions for language learning
- Design high-quality lessons for language development
- Adapt lesson delivery as needed
- Monitor and assess student language development
- Engage and collaborate within a community of practice
For more information about these principles, see TESOL’s quick visual guide or their website, which provides effective practices and applicable classroom activities for each principle. Please contact your building’s EL teacher with any questions or for support.
