English Language Development (ELD)

Academics

Achievement House provides a rigorous, standards-based educational program for English Learners (ELs) of all levels. Our English Learners build and develop their linguistic proficiency in a program that is both intensive and flexible. Identified English Learners attend an ELD (English Language Development) course taught by a certified ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher and designed to promote the continual develop of English language reading, speaking, writing, and listening skills.  Additionally, the ELD department collaborates closely with classroom teachers to ensure that academic curriculum is accessible so that your student can successfully meet standards and make gains in English language proficiency.  Bilingual mentors and access to one-on-one help sessions further support students, ensuring positive outcomes for our English Learners.

Upon enrollment, non-native English-speaking students are evaluated for placement into the ELD program. Achievement House adheres to the WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards and employs the WIDA Screener to accurately determine a student’s English language proficiency.  If it is determined that a student would benefit from English language development support, an individualized program is implemented to best help your student develop English language proficiency while achieving grade-level content standards.

Four different sections of ELD support the needs of students. Newcomer EL (NEL) serves the needs of brand-new English learners acquiring basic English skills, Beginning EL (BEL) serves the needs of students in levels 1-2 (Entering and Beginning), Intermediate EL (IEL) serves the needs of students in levels 3-4 (Developing and Expanding), and Advanced EL (AEL) serves the needs of students in level 5 (Bridging).  We also offer a highly individualized, intensive Newcomer course so that brand-new English Learners can acquire basic English proficiency for success in school.

High school students earn credit upon successfully completing each year of ELD. Achievement House English Learners can truly achieve the proficiency and literacy to effectively communicate in English, excel in their academic courses, and realize their higher education and professional goals after graduation.

The Newcomer EL course is specially designed for recent immigrants who have little or no English proficiency.  Students in this program develop linguistic survival skills and support as they begin to adapt to their new culture.  Placement in this class is based on scores on the WIDA ACCESS or WIDA Screener and teacher input.

The Beginning EL course introduces identified English Learners to basic vocabulary and linguistic structures that they can put to practice in their content area courses. Students strengthen listening, reading, speaking, and writing proficiency in English. They learn specific language and phrases for real-world situations, as well as for their academic areas of math, science, social studies and language arts. The teacher provides support for students and teaches them tools and strategies to employ as they master the basics of the English language such as identifying the main idea, sequencing events, and sorting fact from opinion. Placement in this class is based on scores on the WIDA ACCESS or WIDA Screener and teacher input.

The Intermediate EL course gives students opportunities to practice and continue to develop their English reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Students learn new grammatical structures and apply them in the academic areas of math, science, social studies, language arts, and everyday school situations. Among other skills, students learn how to successfully identify point of view, ask for clarification, describe and expand on topics in writing, solve problems, and express their opinions. Placement in this class is based on scores on the WIDA ACCESS or WIDA Screener and teacher input.

The Advanced EL course encourages students to continue to refine their English language proficiency. Students learn highly specialized and technical content-area language that they can apply directly to their content-area courses.  They practice using a variety of sentence lengths of varying linguistic complexity in extended oral or written discourse such as stories, essays and reports.  Other skills students continue to hone and develop include providing text evidence to support a position, identifying cause and effect, examining bias in writing, and supporting their opinions with examples. Placement in this class is based on scores on the WIDA ACCESS or WIDA Screener and teacher input.