ELD Placement & Procedures
Identification and Placement
The Harrisburg School District English Language Development Department use the following process and resources to identify and place English Learners (ELs) in the Harrisburg School District’s LIEP. Upon registration, parents/guardians of students must complete the Home Language Survey (HLS) (Appendix A). This survey is included in the registration packet for all students.
If the parent/guardian responds YES to any question on the Home Language Survey and a language other than English is listed, the office staff conducts a family interview and reviews records to determine next steps. Based on the responses to the Home Language Survey, the office staff and ELD teacher follow the Pennsylvania Department of Education English Learner Indentification Procedure. This must be completed within 30 calendar days of the beginning of the school year or within 14 calendar days during the school year.
Evidence from previous schooling if available, that the student has a sufficient level of English language proficiency to benefit from instruction in English without specialized supports or accommodations might include scores from standardized summative tests in English, English proficiency exam scores (WIDA ACCESS 2.0 or other), passing grades for core content classes conducted in English, and/or work samples. If previous school academic records are not available, or they do not contain reasonable evidence of English proficiency, then the WIDA ACCESS Screener (1st - 12th grade) or W-APT (Kindergarten) should be administered.
Screening Potential English Learners
A student identified as a PHLOTE (Primary Home Language other than English) will be evaluated by an ESL teacher using the WIDA ACCESS Screener (Grades 1-12) or the W-APT (Kindergarten) to determine ELD instructional level placement. If screening has determined the student is to be identified as an English Learner, the ELD Department notifies the PIMS coordinator and completes necessary information into the district data system.
ELD Teacher is required to update district data system and student cumulative folder with the score information and accommodations.
If a student is identified as an English Learner based on the Pennsylvania Department Education Guidelines, parent/guardians will be notifies of the results of the testing, recommended program placement along with detailed description of the Language Instruction Educational Plan (LIEP), its intended benefits for their children and an explanation of its effectiveness.
All ELD teachers must send parent notification of Program Placement for all their identified English Learners. The Parent notification forms can be found on the English Learner Portal housed on the SAS website within the translation library under the initial placement tab.
Title III Refusal
Our district’s English Language Development (ELD) program properly serves all English Learners (ELs) and we offer Title III supplemental services for all. Parents/guardians are able to exempt their child from ELD services in the district; parents are also able to refuse supplemental services.
Along with the general, school report card, English Learners also receive an ELD report card based on their English levels and Can-DO Descriptors.
Right to Refusal
Parents/Guardians of English Learners have a right to refuse certain separate specialized programs and services that may be part of the LIEP for their children. Specialized services or instruction are those only provided for English Learners. For example, ELD pull-out classes or content classes consisting of only ELs. Parents can opt-out of the specialized services, but they cannot opt out of the WIDA ACCESS State Testing for English learners as this test is required by the Department of Education of Pennsylvania. The opt-out form can be found on the English Learner Portal, housed on the SAS website within the translation library under the English Language Development Parent Wavier Form Tab.
ELD teacher completes an accommodation form for each EL student and adds it to the student's CUM folder. The accommodations listed must be followed by all teachers that provide instruction to English Learners.
EL Accommodations that support remote learning: