Multilingual Programs and Services

Preserving heritage - Uniting our diverse community - Opening doors to the future

Our Mission

Our mission is to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations around the education of English Language Learners and to build district capacity and shared responsibility for the development of multilingual and culturally competent students. 

We strive to empower students to realize their full potential as global citizens through:

A Culture of Valuing All Learners of Language
We believe that all students are learners of language.  Content area teaching includes targeted language instruction within core practice.  We build upon the rich linguistic diversity of our learners.

Cultural Awareness, Competency and Respect
We respect and are responsive to the cultural backgrounds of our students and their families.  We provide staff development to build cultural competence and culturally relevant practices.

A Culture of High Expectations
We promote high expectations for academic achievement for all students regardless of language and cultural background.  Attention to language development provides access to the knowledge and skills required for all students to become independent, life-long learners.  Highly qualified educators are recruited and retained to realize this goal.

A Culture of Effective Professional Development
We offer research-based, high-leverage professional development to address program, teacher and student growth.  Participants become active members of their professional learning community.  Ongoing professional learning will include language acquisition theory, knowledge of the instructional core, effective pedagogical strategies and collaborative practice.

A Culture of Inclusion and Learning
We build stakeholder capacity to create an effective and sustainable system in which every student has access to an equitable and inclusive educational experience.  This includes program models that provide appropriate accommodations and scaffolding throughout all facets of the educational experience.  Students and their families are engaged as equal partners.

A Culture of Shared Responsibility for Language Development
We promote the collective responsibility for student language development.  This requires a shared commitment to ongoing assessment of student language proficiency in addition to content learning.  Data is used to plan for instruction that advances students' language development.  Instruction utilizes universal academic structures with fidelity to ensure access to learning through heritage language support and target language development.

Qualification

Students who have a language other than English present in their Home Language Survey (taken at enrollment) will be screened to see if they qualify for ESL services through a conversation and an assessment tool. This English language proficiency assessment is administered shortly after enrollment to determine the level of English proficiency. If a student scores at DPI (Department of Public Instruction) levels 1-4 (levels 1-5 for KG), the student qualifies for ESL/Bilingual education services. If a student scores a DPI level 5 (level 6 for KG), the student is determined fully English proficient and does not qualify for ESL/Bilingual education services. 

Notification and Consent

Teachers report the student's level of English proficiency to families. After families have been given information about ESL/Bilingual education, they have the right to either accept or decline these services. Families also have the right to change their decision at any time during the student's career in MMSD. Schools are required to notify families of English proficiency status yearly (WI State Statute 115.96(2/3).

Reclassification and Exit

Students will no longer be considered eligible for ESL / Bilingual Education services when they can demonstrate academic English language proficiency necessary to succeed academically similar to native English speaking students in age/grade appropriate learning environments. A student who has achieved a Wisconsin DPI Level 6 ("now Fully English Proficient") then must successfully complete Monitor Status without ESL services for two academic years to be reclassified. In essence, the student is allowed a trial period to determine the likelihood of academic success without ESL/Bilingual Ed. support. At the end of the two-year period, if the student has shown academic success, the student will be exited from the program. Parents will be notified of this change of status.

Bilingual/Bicultural Program Requirements

If any school, within a school district in Wisconsin, has 10 Limited English Proficient students speaking the same non-English language at grades K-3, 20 students at grades 4-8, or 20 students at grades 9-12, the district must design a program and prepare a formal plan of services (PI-1849) to meet the needs of these students. The statute requires all such programs to be staffed by licensed bilingual teachers. When bilingual licensed teachers are not available, ESL licensed teachers may be used with bilingual teacher aides except in programs serving Spanish speakers. The obligation to maintain a state approved bilingual-bicultural program (WI State Statute 115.97) for students begins when any one of the three grade cluster "trigger" numbers is reached within a single school building. Districts may combine student numbers across different schools to meet the minimum threshold for state-assistance, but this is not an obligation.

Pupil Nondiscrimination

Under this law, no student may be denied admission to any public school, be denied participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be discriminated against in any school-related activity or program on the basis of the student's sex, race, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability. This law, like its federal counterparts, requires that every student receive an equitable educational opportunity. In order to meet this requirement, language barriers must be overcome or removed.

Federal and State requirements

Federal

Every Student Succeeds Act  (ESSA)

State

Legal Responsibilities When Serving Limited-English Proficient (LEP) Students in K-12 Public Schools

Eligibility for ESL and Bilingual Education Services

Wisconsin state statute 115.96 (Count of Limited English Proficient Pupils) requires that "each school board shall identify potential Limited English Proficient pupils within the school district as part of the enrollment process using a home language survey and department-approved English proficiency assessment". The home language survey criteria for selecting students for assessment are defined as:

• Pupils who communicate in a language other than English
• Pupils whose families use a language other than English
• Pupils who use a language other than English in daily non-school surroundings

Identified students are assessed for English language proficiency using a state-approved assessment called ACCESS for ELLs that addresses speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in English. 

Annual testing of all identified LEP students is required by law to enable the district to provide yearly progress reports as well as to report language proficiency and academic status reports to parents.

Exit Criteria

Students will no longer be considered eligible for ESL / Bilingual Education services when they can demonstrate academic English language proficiency necessary to succeed academically similar to native English speaking students in age/grade appropriate learning environments.

A student who has achieved a Wisconsin DPI Level 6 ("now Fully English Proficient") then must successfully complete Monitor Status without ESL services for two academic years to be reclassified. In essence, the student is allowed a trial period to determine the likelihood of academic success without ESL/Bilingual Ed. support. At the end of the two-year period, if the student has shown academic success, the student will be exited from the program. Parents will be notified of this change of status.