District/School Administration PK-16 Program Support
Office of Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement (OLAAA)

Identifying Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students
October 2004

How to Identify New LEP Students Upon Their Enrollment in a School District

State and federal laws require that students in our public schools who do not speak English or whose native language is not English AND who currently cannot perform ordinary classroom work in English receive instruction that is specifically designed to assist them both in learning English and in learning subject matter content. These students are often referred to as limited English proficient (LEP) students. They are also referred to as English language learners (ELLs).

When a new student enters a school district, it is the district's obligation to determine if the student is LEP. State law, G.L.c.71A, requires that most LEP students be educated in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI), consisting of both sheltered subject matter instruction in English and English language instruction. Following is a graphic representation of how a school district should go about making this determination. A discussion of each step follows this graphic.

Step 1 Administer a Home Language Survey. The primary purpose of a Home Language Survey is to find out if a student speaks a language other than English at home and thereby needs to be assessed for English language proficiency. The Home Language Survey also presents an opportunity to collect other useful information about the student that will help district personnel understand the student's personal and educational history in order to plan an appropriate educational program for the student.

• Design the survey. A district survey should be designed to collect the particular information that the district will find useful. After the survey is designed, it should be translated into as many of the languages spoken by district students as practicable. This will be useful when eliciting information from parents who do not understand English well, but who can read in their native language. If a home language survey has not been translated into a language the parent understands, someone must be available to read it to the parent in a language the parent understands and to assist the parent in filling out the survey.
  Three examples of home language surveys appear in Appendix 1. Each district should design a Home Language Survey that meets its own needs. Additional examples can be found at www.matsol.org and at http://www.helpforschools.com/ELLKBase/forms/HomeLanguageSurveys.shtml

• Develop a plan to make sure the survey is administered to all new students. If new students are enrolled at a central intake location, several individuals should be designated and trained in administering the Home Language Survey at that location. If new students are enrolled directly into schools, an appropriate person must be designated and trained at each school. The individuals administering the Home Language Survey should be professionals, such as teachers, principals, or guidance counselors, who have had training in the procedure. It is not appropriate for school secretaries or paraprofessionals to perform this task.

• Establish a record-keeping system. A record-keeping system should be established to document the administration of the Home Language Survey and any language assessment tests that are administered.

Step 2 Assess the English language proficiency of all students whose home language is not English. Speaking, listening, reading and writing must all be assessed. Appendix 2 lists and describes assessments commonly used for this purpose by school districts in Massachusetts. It is not appropriate for school secretaries or paraprofessionals to perform this task.
The Department does not prescribe which assessments a district should use. In addition to Appendix 2, descriptive information about additional language proficiency assessments can be found at http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/expert/faq/25tests.htm

Step 3 Determine if the student is or is not limited English proficient (LEP). This decision should be made by trained district personnel who use the results of the English language assessments and other pertinent information. It should be made consistently, following written guidelines that include cut scores and other criteria established by a task force within the district and approved by the superintendent.

Step 4 Place each LEP student in an instructional program that will provide sheltered subject matter instruction in English and English language instruction appropriate for the student's level of English language proficiency. It is not the purpose of this document to describe in any detail this very crucial topic of planning and implementing appropriate instruction for LEP students. However, the following should be kept in mind when doing so.

1. State law, G.L.c.71A, requires that LEP students, with limited exceptions, receive both sheltered subject matter instruction in English and English language instruction. This requirement applies to all districts that enroll LEP students, regardless of whether there is one LEP student or hundreds of LEP students enrolled in the district. An FAQ document that provides guidance on the implementation of G.L.c.71A is posted at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/ell/chapter71A_faq.pdf. In addition, the document used by the Department for monitoring compliance with both state and federal law regarding LEP students is posted at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/instrument/chapter71A.pdf.

2. Both sheltered subject matter instruction and English language instruction must be delivered by qualified teachers. A memorandum of guidance about Qualifications for Teachers of LEP Students was issued on June 15, 2004 by the Commissioner, and is posted at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/ell/sei/qualifications.pdf

3. The English language instruction and the sheltered content instruction provided to LEP students should be geared to their English proficiency level. Students with beginning and low intermediate English proficiency need more "sheltering," more adaptations of curriculum and instruction, than students with a higher level of English proficiency. Additional information about English language proficiency standards and English language proficiency performance levels can be found in the English Language Proficiency Benchmarks and Outcomes: http://www.doe.mass.edu/ell/benchmark.pdf [1.1MB]
   Additional resources on this topic can also be found under "Resources" on the Department's ELL homepage: http://www.doe.mass.edu/ell/.

Step 5 Code all students determined to be LEP correctly in the next SIMS data collection. Data for the Department's Student Information Management System (SIMS) is collected three times a year (October, March and June). Be sure to indicate the LEP status for each LEP student in all SIMS data collections.

Please note: This document is intended to answer many of the questions that are frequently asked of the staff in the Office of Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement (OLAAA). As such it is to be considered and used as general implementation guidance.

For additional implementation guidance, please call the Office of Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement at 781-338-3535.

For legal guidance, please call:
Program Quality Assurance: 781-338-3700 OR
Office of Legal Counsel: 781-338-3400

  Appendix 1: Home Language Surveys

  Appendix 2: Language Proficiency Assessments