Secondary Literacy Guide

High School Content Course Recommendations Highly scaffolded grade-level core content with engaging teachers (preferably ESL endorsed)

ELA ●​ Literacy can count as 1 year of ELA credit ●​ Students with a Lexile above 1000, can take ESL 1010 and 1020 for ELA 11 and ELA 12 credit ●​ After passing ESL 1010 and 1020 with a C or better, students can take English 1010 and 2010 without the minimum ACT requirement MATH ●​ Schools with high numbers of newcomers may elect to have a Basic Math Class upon approval and may enroll newcomers in this class until an appropriate Math level can be determined ●​ 9th & 10th grade students who are Below Basic/Basic on MI should be enrolled in math every day for the full academic year (eg. Math Lab with Secondary Math 1 or 2 or Secondary Math 1 or 2 daily) ●​ 11th grade students may opt out of Secondary III and take a more applicable approved AAF course (such as Accounting, Stats 101, Mathematics of Personal Finance, Modern Math, Intro to Programming) subject to performance in Secondary Math 2 and future plans ●​ The overall goal for students is that they complete their 3rd year of Math by the time they graduate SCIENCE ●​ Newcomer students should be placed in core Science classes such as Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics based on student choice ●​ MI scores and other data should be considered to help students choose course placement in Chemistry and Physics specifically ●​ Newcomers should not be immediately placed in one certain course subject area based on level of language acquisition. Students should be encouraged to enroll in a Science course based on interest and prior academic experience. SOCIAL STUDIES ●​ 9th and 10th grade newcomer students only need to take one semester of 9th grade Geography and 10th grade World History, which is allowed per state graduation requirements ●​ 11th grade newcomer students should enroll in 11th grade US history. It is a state graduation requirement that students complete a full year. ●​ 12th grade newcomer students should enroll in Government & Citizenship rather than be placed in a non grade level social studies course so they can begin to understand the framework of constitution literacy. Since this is a semester course, students need to enroll in another Social Studies elective (eg. Psychology, Sociology, American Problems, etc.). HEALTHY LIFESTYLES ●​ Assign placement based on student interest and opportunities to practice language using low stakes speaking tasks WORLD LANGUAGE / DLI ●​ Students can enroll in any World Language course, regardless of home language ●​ Students may be awarded credit if the student scores “Intermediate Level 2” on Form B of the AAPPL test, the student can receive up to 3 elective credits automatically without having to enroll in a class ●​ If Dual Immersion is offered in the student’s home language, contact ISD to determine if placement is an option ●​ If an AP course is offered in the student’s home language and he/she has the literacy skills, consider enrolling the student ●​ Students who speak a language other than English may receive the Seal of Biliteracy, contact ISD to determine eligibility ARTS ●​ Ask students to identify which art forms they enjoy most (music, art, dance, or theater) and place by interest ●​ Aim to place students in arts classes that promote and prioritize student creativity and communication

CTE/CTEC

●​ Help the student choose a completer pathway based on interest and enroll in introductory course ●​ Students should not be denied access to CTE or CTEC classes based on language proficiency ●​ Consider alternative options for demonstrating skills associated with the safety tests

Middle School Course Recommendations Highly scaffolded grade level core content with engaging teachers (preferably ESL endorsed)

Last Updated April 14, 2025 ​

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Literacy, Page 16