The CRICS ELL Program exists to support the diverse needs of international students who need further development in English language skills. Our program focuses on developing students’ reading and writing skills through daily practice. ELL elementary services may include two support classes a week with an ELL teacher and a reading program. Services appropriate for the secondary students may include specialized reading or writing classes or tutoring support for core classes. The ELL teachers serve to advocate for ELL student needs, supporting core academic teachers as needed.

 

Calendar

August 

Week of Teacher Orientation:

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

 

Communication & Position Map

 

 

Head of School

Elementary ELL  Secondary ELL 
Supervisor- elementary principal  Supervisor- secondary principal 
ELL teacher  ELL teacher 

The ELL teachers are to understand the expectations of their work from their principals. All ELL teachers are under the administration of each principal.

The ELL teachers are to give a report to their principal on a regular basis.

 

Scheduling

An ELL elementary teacher is to meet with the elementary principal and elementary homeroom teachers during teacher orientation for scheduling elementary students’ ELL classes to determine the best time for the students to be pulled out of the regular classroom. A secondary ELL teacher is to check with the Academic Counselor to see when the secondary ELL students will be available.

Once the scheduling is done, ELL teachers are to share their schedule with their principal for their approval.

 

Elementary Open House

The elementary open house is a great opportunity to meet with the new elementary ELL families. The elementary ELL teacher is to demonstrate how to navigate the Reading Eggs program to the parents.

 

Prospective students

Incoming students who 1) come from a home where a language other than English is spoken or 2) whose parent (one or both) is not from an English speaking country should take a WIDA Kindergarten W-APT or a WIDA Screener assessment as a part of the admission process.

 

Assessment for prospective students

The WIDA Screener and WIDA Kindergarten W-APT scores will be reported to the principals along with our school’s WIDA entry points.The ELL teachers are to write a note if the prospective student passed the entry point or not. In addition to noting this, the ELL teachers should also note whether or not the student will require ELL support. The ELL teachers may provide insights about the student gained from the testing process if they recognize that the insights will be helpful to the Admissions Team.

The prospective students’ WIDA Screener scores should be printed out from www.wida.wisc.edu for documentation for the ELL department and admissions.

 

Conditional acceptance

Prospective students whose WIDA Screener scores did not meet the entry points of CRICS may be accepted by the approval of the ELT. If admitted, CRICS may ask the incoming student and their parents to agree to a conditional acceptance with certain suggestions or certain requirements for English language learning that should take place outside of CRICS oversight. (See appendix #1 for an example of a conditional acceptance agreement.)

 

Reclassification and monitored status

Reclassification as an ELL student

In some unusual cases, CRICS has found that a student was admitted to CRICS without recognizing the significant ELL needs during the admissions process. If a teacher is concerned about possible ELL needs for a student, he/she needs to inform the principal and the principal will ask for assistance from the ELL department. Please follow this procedure if you have concerns about a student's ELL needs:

  1. The classroom teachers make the principal aware of ELL concerns about a student.
  2. Principals contact the ELL department to arrange the WIDA assessment.
  3. The principal makes a decision about reclassifying the student as an ELL student based on the WIDA test result and other feedback from teachers.

 

Monitored status

Students who exited the ELL program will be monitored for one year by their homeroom teachers (elementary) and L.A. and other classroom teachers (secondary).

Any academic concerns about students in the monitored status will be reported to the principals. Under monitored status, classroom teachers and ELL teachers monitor students quarterly to be sure that the students are progressing satisfactorily in their core subject classes. After one year, students will likely exit from monitored status. After this, the ELL program will no longer monitor these students for ELL concerns. If for some reason a student fails to progress in English as a monitored student, in special cases, a low progressing student may continue on as monitored status for an additional year or years.

 

ELL service styles

ELL teachers will give daily assignments to students to improve their reading and writing skills. The amount of homework will differ by their grade level and needs. The ELL teachers confer with principals about the appropriate amount of assignments for these students.

ELL teachers will provide a one-on-one class, a small group class, or join the mainstream class to support the ELL students. A one-on-one class will be arranged for a student who 1) received a classroom teacher’s recommendation for one-on-one support, 2) is behind the other ELL students in his or her class, or 3) has behavioral needs that require one-on-one ELL support. ELL teachers will notify principals if they recognize the need for one-on-one support and cannot provide adequate support for this need due to full schedules or conflicts in schedule.

 

Criteria for exiting the ELL Program

An English proficiency exam will be given yearly and the student must meet the minimum proficiency level set by CRICS. The annual language evaluation will use multiple measures including an English proficiency assessment, teacher evaluation, and the MAP test.

The English proficiency assessment and the MAP test will be administered in April. The decision on whether the student will exit ELL or not will be made by the end of May.

Failure to reach acceptable English proficiency may require outside English tutoring. The progress of all ELL students will be carefully assessed through the annual language evaluation, and CRICS will partner with parents in the continuing development of their child’s English.

  1. Elementary classroom teacher’s feedback or secondary L.A and social studies teachers’ feedback
  2. MAP test result
  3. WIDA test result
  4. Reading Eggs progress (elementary students)

 

Assessment for ELL students

The ELL teachers will give the ELL needs assessment to the ELL students at the beginning of the school year to coordinate resources and materials accordingly.

The ELL teachers will refer to the ELL students’ MAP test results for assessment.

The ELL teachers will administer the WIDA MODEL Online assessment to the ELL students in the fourth quarter.

 

ELL Report

The elementary ELL teachers are to give a quarterly report on the Reading Eggs to each homeroom teacher a week before the end of each quarter.

The elementary and secondary ELL teachers are to give the annual report of ELL students to the ELT in April. The report includes MAP test scores, teachers’ feedback, WIDA MODEL Online scores, and the monitoring result from Reading Eggs.

 

ELL Fees

CRICS ELL students pay an ELL fee as a student classified upon admission to CRICS as an English Language Learner. This fee may provide for various extra support services and will be required until the student passes out of the ELL program. At that point, “monitor” status is assigned to the student, generally for one academic school year, and the student on monitor status is charged a fee as a monitored student.

ELL fees cover costs such as online subscriptions, WIDA Assessment, ELL curriculum textbooks, and additional support from the core classroom teachers.

 

Parents’ refusal of services

If a parent does not want their child to receive ELL support services, the parent must meet with the principal to request a refusal of services. Upon the approval of the principal, the parent must sign a form to opt-out of ELL services. Opting out of CRICS ELL services is likely not ideal and may create difficulties for a student that leads to academic failure and possibly the inability to continue on at CRICS as a student (see Appendix #2).

 

WIDA training and test administration

Since CRICS uses the WIDA assessment for all grade levels, it is a mandatory requirement for ELL teachers to have the WIDA training.

  1. Kindergarten W-APT: This is a WIDA assessment for prospective kindergarten students. This is a one-to-one assessment for speaking and listening tests and it takes about 30 minutes. The ELL teachers go through the training for this assessment at www.wida.wisc.edu.
  2. WIDA Screener: This is a WIDA assessment for prospective students from grades 1-12. This assessment can be done in small groups with 2-3 students except the speaking session. However, the small group assessment is possible only when the prospective students are having the same grade-level cluster test. The ELL teachers must read the WIDA Screener Manual before they go through the training for this assessment at www.wida.wisc.edu.
  3. WIDA MODEL Kindergarten: This is a WIDA assessment for our ELL kindergarten students. This is a one-to-one assessment and it takes about 30 minutes to one hour. The ELL teachers must read and understand the WIDA MODEL Test Administration Manual for Kindergarten. It is required for the ELL teachers to practice administering the assessment using the test kits.
  4. WIDA MODEL Online: This is a WIDA assessment for our ELL students from grades 1-12. The WIDA MODEL Online can be done in a small group (2-3) above grade 3 except the speaking session. The younger students do not understand the instructions or focus on them well, so a one-to-one assessment is more effective. 
    Since the assessment takes 90-120 minutes, the assessment should be split into two parts (speaking & listening / reading & writing) and be arranged on two different days for grades 1-2.

ELL teachers must read the WIDA MODEL Online Administration Manual and go through the training by logging on www.wida-model.metritech testing.com. WIDA Reading and Writing Rubric should be printed out. The ELL teachers need to memorize them. The Writing Rafter Training Manual must be printed out to be used when scoring.

 

Login information: www.wida.wisc.edu

id: WISCCRICS2020 
password: baanduu

Go to the website and click on Login. You will see another log in sign on the right side. Choose “WIDA International Secure Portal.”

Login information: www.wida-model.metritechtesting.com

id:Cricsell 
password: baanduu

The ELL teachers may send an email to WIDA at wida@help.us if there are any questions or technical issues. WIDA can be very helpful and the responses will come within 24 hours except on weekends.

The ELL teachers must fill out the WIDA training check-up list and submit it to their supervisors. See to the Training check-up list (Appendix #3).

 

Documentation

ELL teachers are responsible for keeping an ELL folder in Google Drive. The ELL folder contains a report including WIDA Screener/ MODEL Test Scores, MAP test scores, and teachers’ feedback. The information should be updated within 2 weeks of each test. The folder also contains the quarterly report of the Reading Eggs and AceReader downloaded from their websites.

The ELL teachers are to keep a portfolio of work samples for each ELL student. The portfolio must include samples of student work of each quarter.

 

Resource Management

The ELL teachers should be accountable for all the resources purchased by the school or donated by someone.

  1. ELL teachers should be aware of the number of the books in each curriculum.
  2. ELL teachers should have a list of their teaching resources and materials in the ELL classroom. The ELL teachers should give a copy of it to their supervisors. In February, the ELL teachers should check if there are any missing materials or if there are any materials that need to be repurchased due to some damage to them. These items will be added to the budget list for the next school year.

 

ELL main resources

 

Elementary  Secondary 

Reading: Reading Eggs

Reading and Writing: ___

Vocabulary: ___

Spelling: ___

Reading and writing: (block period)

Reading speed: Smart Choice 4th edition

Vocabulary: Smart Choice 4th edition

Grammar : Smart Choice 4th edition

 

Subscription

The ELL teachers should be aware of the subscription expiration date of online programs (Reading Eggs, Raz Plus, and Dreambox Reading Plus) and WIDA MODEL Online assessment. The ELL teachers renew the number of students for online programs at the end of the school year. The new ELL students should be added to the online program. The ELL teachers should share the list of students who are taking the online programs with their supervisors. When the expiration date is close, the ELL teachers should contact admin@crics.asia for renewing the subscription upon the approval of supervisors.

*Raz Plus: a combination of Reading A to Z and Raz Kids

 

Appendix #1

Conditional Acceptance Agreement

It is my desire to enroll ____________________________ in grade ________.

I recognize that the high English language standards at CRICS require me to be an active partner in my child’s education. Yes or No (please, circle yes or no)

I understand that my child is accepted as an ELL student. Yes or No

I understand that my child needs supplemental English lessons so that she / he can reach acceptable English proficiency to study at CRICS. Yes or No

I understand that CRICS may ask for details about my student’s extra support study plans. Yes or No

I have read and agreed to this contract. Yes or No

_____________________ ______________________

Parent’s Signature Parent’s Signature

Date___________________ Date ______________________

 

Appendix #2

Parent’s Contract in Refusing ELL Services

  1. I understand that my child will no longer receive any support from the ELL department.
  2. I understand that my child will no longer receive any extra support as an ELL student in the mainstream classroom.
  3. I understand that this decision may negatively affect my child’s academic progress.

____________________________ ________________________

Parent’s Signature Parent’s Signature

Date_______________________ Date_____________________________

 

Appendix #3

WIDA Training Checklist

Name: Date:

  1. Kindergarten W-APT
    1. I finished the training.
    2. I understood the training.
  2. WIDA Screener :
    1. I read the WIDA Screener Manual.
    2. I understood the manual.
    3. I finished all the training sessions on www.wida.wisc.edu.
    4. I got licensed to score the WIDA Screener speaking assessment from G1 to G5 and / or from G6 to G12.
    5. I got licensed to score the WIDA Screener writing assessment from G1 to G5 and / or from G6 to G12.
      1. WIDA MODEL Kindergarten :
        1. I read the WIDA MODEL Test Administration Manual for K.
        2. I understood the manual.
        3. I practiced the assessment at least twice using the test kits.
          1. WIDA MODEL Online :
            1. I read the WIDA MODEL Online Administration Manual.
            2. I understood the manual.
            3. I finished all the training on www.wida-model.metritechtesting.com
  3. I know where all the manuals are.
  4. I understand that the WIDA Manuals should not be brought outside the school (CRICS does not have any extra copies). 
  5. I understand that I should keep all the WIDA test results in a cabinet in the ELL room as confidential records.