EL Definition from Ohio’s Department of Education
According to the Ohio Department of Education, “English learners are a growing part of the PreK–12 student population. Over the last ten years, Ohio’s percentage of EL students has doubled to approximately 60,000 students. Spanish is the home language of almost 40% of Ohio’s English learners along with 90 other home languages. These language skills include Somali, Arabic, Swahili, Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, Pennsylvania Dutch (a dialect of German used by the Amish), French and Turkish.
Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, Ohio must identify English learners, annually assess their English language proficiency, provide reasonable accommodations for them on state assessments, and implement accountability systems that include long-term goals and measures of progress.”
The terms “English Learner” and “English Language Learners” refer to those students whose native or home language is other than English, and whose current limitations in the ability to understand, speak, read or write in English inhibit their effective participation in a school’s educational program.
For more information on Ohio’s diversity, see this link of English Learners mapped and click on the links below for additional resources.
Licking Heights EL Program Philosophy
The Licking Heights School District (LHSD) is committed to providing a high quality English Learner (EL) program that validates each student's’ native language and culture as a means to ensure linguistic, academic, and social-cultural success in a diverse society. In order to meet students’ English language development needs, the LHSD is committed to providing an evidence-based program of instruction that will allow us to:
- Enable all students to achieve high standards.
- Provide instruction for EL students in the most appropriate program according to needs, assessments, and ODE regulations.
- Provide instruction that builds on students’ cognitive abilities and prior education.
- Emphasize English language development and content area learning at every grade level.
- Provide ongoing valid assessments of students that reflect the stages of English language acquisition.
- Evaluate data and make program adjustments to continually improve student learning.
- Encourage the use of native language support through technology to access content area curriculum while simultaneously providing English language instruction.
- Promote understanding of and respect for cultural and linguistic diversity by students, parents, staff, and community.
- Develop higher teacher competencies of ELs’ needs through comprehensive training of all staff on extensive teaching strategies/methodology and second language acquisition.
- Develop and maintain services in the areas of special needs, gifted, and at-risk students.
- Support and expand early childhood and family literacy programs.
- Engage with families and have open two way communication
Licking Heights EL Program Vision and Mission
Vision
We aspire to:
- Teach the four core pillars of English acquisition of reading, writing, listening and speaking based on the Ohio ELP Standards and Ohio ELP Standards-Extended.
- Equip LH English Learners with the skills needed to compete in our global society.
- Improve our community and society by providing opportunities for cultural education and enrichment.
- Provide resources and programs to our English Learners to accelerate their learning and ensure students are technologically savvy.
- Stay current in educational policies and professional development so that our practices are research-based and considered best practice for ELs.
- Advocate for our English Learners to various stakeholders.
Mission
The mission of the Licking Heights EL Department is to prepare students for academic success through integrated content-based language instruction and to prepare educators to work with this diverse population through professional development. The department will foster academic achievement, critical thinking and problem solving for students, while advocating for cultural education and enrichment for English learners within the district and the larger community.
The Licking Heights EL Program Overview
Licking Heights is home to close to 900 English Learners (ELs) speaking more than 42 languages. The district provides various levels of services to this highly heterogeneous group of students, with diverse gifts, educational needs, backgrounds, languages, and goals. The purpose of our program is to accelerate English language literacy while valuing the social and cultural knowledge that a child brings to school. The district primarily serves ELs based on language needs through self-contained instruction and/or inclusive instructional settings.