Shelbyville Central School Corporation
Bylaws & Policies
 

5421.02 - ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY GRADES

In accordance with Performance Based Accreditation guidelines, a School Corporation shall not retain language minority students solely on the basis of English language proficiency. The following applies to student enrolled in the Shelbyville Central Schools Corporation:

 A.Students must be reviewed on an individual basis. If the language proficiency assessment indicates that the student is below level 5 in English proficiency, grading and assessment procedures must be adapted to according to the English proficiency level. If adaptations are not made accordingly, the child must not be failed or retained.
 B.Students must be afforded the opportunity to express and demonstrate knowledge or mastery of concepts based upon their language proficiency level.
 C.Students should not be judged or assessed in comparison to their age level peers who are native speakers of English. Each individual should be evaluated and assigned grades based upon individual progress from the date of enrollment.

(Indiana Dept. of Education; PBA Guidelines for Language Minority Programs)

Following are the guidelines pertaining to non-English speaking and limited English speaking students enrolled in Shelbyville Central Schools:

 A.establish realistic, measureable, and attainable goals;
 B.understand and acknowledge that students are learning English and content knowledge simultaneously;
 C.maintain timely communication with the ESL staff members to determine the student's abilities; (should we say "quarterly")
 D.know the student's English proficiency level in order to provide appropriate classroom instruction and to determine appropriate grading of the student.

Following are practices to be considered in order to provide appropriate learning adaptations for the student:

 A.give students extended time to work on tests and homework assignments;
 B.allow students to create pictorial representations of content;
 C.read exams to students, allowing an oral response;
 D.personalize goals for the student to demonstrate achievement;
 E.provide simplified test format for students based on those goals;
 F.develop a portfolio for the student, comparing individual progress throughout the grading period;
 G.provide grades based upon mastery of concepts, not the use of English to perform the task.

Following are the grading criteria for elementary and secondary students:

 A.elementary students identified as performing at LAS Language Levels 1 and 2 will receive a narrative report in lieu of letter grades. Report will be developed by the classroom teacher in consult with the ESL staff member.
 B.Elementary students identified as performing at LAS Language Levels 3 and 4 should receive a letter grade resulting from the use of the adapted classroom curriculum and instruction. A student may not be failed or retained solely based on their limited English proficiency.
 C.At the secondary level, the content area teachers will discuss the language proficiency of their ESL students with the ESL staff member. Letter grades may be assigned if curriculum and instruction are adapted. If instruction is not adapted, a student may not be failed solely based on their limited English proficiency.

Adopted 9/14/10