ELD Program

The Harrisburg School District shall provide an appropriate planned instructional program for identified students whose dominant language is not English. The goal of the ELD Program is to provide English Learners (ELs) with instructional support that will enable them to participate fully in their educational experience in our schools and in their social lives in our community. The objectives of the ELD program are to develop both basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP), to develop proficiency in the language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, to develop competence in intercultural interactions, and to encourage participation in the full range of instructional activities in the regular education curriculum and in extracurricular activities in our schools.

The program components ensure each student receives instruction geared towards helping the student achieve the PA academic standards in reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and allowing the students the opportunities they need to become proficient in the use of the English language.  The ELD program provided to ELs will include direct language instruction as well as adaptations to instruction and assessment in all content areas, both of which must be commensurate with the student's level of English proficiency.

Students in the ELD program must be provided with meaningful, comprehensible access to instruction in all content areas required by Pennsylvania academic standards. The PA ELPS (English Language Proficiency Standards) are an overlay to the academic standards and will be incorporated in planned instruction for ELs by all teachers. Content area instruction will be aligned with the corresponding standards and adapted to meet the needs of the students. Accommodations and modifications provided to the student will be provided by the ESL teacher, which will be collaboratively developed by the ESL teacher and grade level/content teacher(s). Appropriate academic support services will be provided to ELs within the content courses and may include an ESL teacher or supplemental materials. Common planning time to support instructional planning and evaluation efforts between the ESL teacher and grade level/content-area teachers will be provided. 

ELs must be graded using the same grading system as all other students. Grading of ELs must reflect what the students know and are able to do at their level of English language proficiency. The content teacher(s), ESL teacher, school counselor, and principal will monitor all ELs' progress during the school year to determine if programming changes are necessary.

The linguistic program goal of the ELD program is developing literacy in English using Content-Based ESL as the program model. English instruction is adapted to student’s proficiency level and supplemented by gestures, visual aids, and manipulatives.  This approach of teaching ELD makes use of instructional materials, learning tasks, and classroom techniques from academic content areas as the vehicle for developing language, content, cognitive, and study skills.

HBGSD Language Instruction Educational Plan (LIEP)

BEC Educating English Learners 2017

 

ELD/Classes

At the Elementary and Middle Level (K-8^th), all ELs receive English Language instruction in core content classes; Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies using the Collaborative Teaching Model (ESL Push-in) of Mixed Classes with English only support. Collaboration occurs in grade level/content classes; both content and ELD teachers provide individualized direct instruction and identification of students’ strengths and weaknesses in the form of anecdotal records. The ELD teacher reinforces pronunciation, language usage, and decoding and comprehension strategies. ESL certified teachers also provide English Language instruction during core contents, intervention periods, via curriculum based on the PA ELPS (English Language Proficiency Standards) using the SAS Pre-K-12 Language Arts and Math ELL Overlay.

At the High School level (9-12), ELs receive English Language instruction in core content classes. Content area teachers are responsible for modifying and adapting instruction and assessment. Content knowledge skills are taught within the departmentalized classrooms of English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies; with an emphasis on vocabulary.  ELs, Levels 1.0-3.0; Entering through Developing, receive English Language/English Language Arts instruction through a Sheltered English program model using curriculum based on the ESL Instructional Framework 6-12 and Harrisburg School District English Language Arts 9-12. For the purposes of meeting graduation requirements, all ELs will follow the graduation requirements specifically described in the district strategic plan. Appropriate accommodations may be applied.

 

PA English Language Proficiency Standards