English Learner Program

The goal of ACOE programs and services for English Learners is to ensure that limited English proficient students develop full proficiency in English and meet the same challenging state academic standards as all other students. ACOE teachers shall be CLAD trained and certified to be able to provide the sheltered English immersion programs specified in the Board policy.

Student Programs and Services Division (SPAS) of ACOE developed the Master Plan and Procedural Handbook for English Learners to provide a framework for the implementation of instructional programs that will enable English Learners to achieve this goal.

The components of the Master Plan are aligned with the California Department of Education's Coordinated Compliance Review items, and specific procedures reflect the unique circumstances of ACOE student programs, which differ substantially from district and school settings.

	The ACOE serves a highly mobile student population. Even within the Cal-SAFE program, only a small percentage of students remain enrolled in the program from year to year.
	ACOE programs provide alternative models of instruction. Services are highly individualized, often short-term, and flexible. Program organization, curriculum, and instructional approaches reflect the specialized, and often unique, needs of ACOE students.
	The ACOE receives neither state EIA/LEP categorical funds nor federal Title III funds to serve English Learners.

The instructional staff actively monitors each English Learner's academic progress and reclassifies students who meet the ACOE Redesignation Criteria as fluent English Proficient.

English Learners in the Cal-SAFE Program receive daily, specialized English language development (ELD) instruction and access to the core curriculum through specially-designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE). Classroom teachers are supported by the EL teacher specialist through consultation, demonstration lessons, and small group and/or individualized lessons either with the EL teacher or the EL instructional assistant, under the direction of the EL teacher.

The curriculum currently being used targets the four critical skills that EL students must develop in a systematic way (listening/speaking, reading/writing). It provides reading activities, explicit writing instruction linked to grammar, spanning newcomer and beginner levels to mastery of academic skills. In addition, ACOE/SPAS also purchased multi-media interactive software to provide practice in grammar, speaking listening, vocabulary development, pronunciation, reading and writing, leveled readers, and reference books.

The district also offers teachers professional development workshops in-house and through a partnership with California State University, East Bay in order to share and learn best practices and strategies critical to developing EL lessons. EL staff attended the annual California Association for Bilingual Education and the National Association for Bilingual Education where the most current research, strategies, and materials are presented and discussed.