Secondary Literacy Guide

At the middle school level, multilingual learners should be scheduled based on the following: ●​ Classes that provide collaborative opportunities, are language rich, and content is scaffolded with visuals and other supports

●​ Student interest (e.g. Art forms they enjoy most like music, art, dance, or theater) ●​ Classes that promote and prioritize student creativity and communication

●​ For newcomers, classes that are highly sheltered may be appropriate, including co-taught grade level core content . Sheltered instruction is an approach that adapts academic content to the language proficiency of a ML student, integrating content and language goals with scaffolds like visuals, graphic organizers, sentence frames to aid comprehension and engagement. Prioritize schedule based on each student’s language needs, even if this means substituting courses that are required for the general populations. This may include substituting courses for a newcomer, for example: ●​ Literacy course for an ELA course ●​ An elective, that is more likely to increase language development, for a Social Studies or Science course Note: substituting should be done with the intent to increase language acquisition NOT because of perceived student ability, to fill a schedule, or lessen a burden on a specific teacher

Important Considerations

All ML Students ●​ Lexile score of ML student determines Secondary Language Course Placement (previously known as ELD).

○​ WIDA ACCESS overall proficiency score (4.2) may be used as a consideration. Since ACCESS scores are not available until June and WIDA placement is not accessible right away for newcomers, Lexile is readily available and monitored more than once a year and therefore should be the determining factor. Math Specialists can conduct a screener to determine skill level in Math as well. ●​ If a course has prerequisites but it could benefit the ML student’s language development, consider waiving the prerequisite to support language development; in these instances, consider if a P/F option is more appropriate given that the language development is the priority rather than the content mastery. ●​ Ensure intentional placement as a team (ie. coaches and admin) and avoid “tracking” students into one course over others. ○​ For example, historically, ML students have been placed in Earth Science classes because content and standards weren’t as rigorous as other Science subject areas. This overwhelmed teachers and led to a disproportionate population of students with varied learning needs rather than placing students in classes where they would have choice in their learning and opportunities to learn from their peers. ○​ If a student is dually identified in Special Education and as a multilingual learner, the IEP team will determine placement (ie. LEA, any GenEd teacher, ELD teacher, Special Ed teacher, parents/guardians, school counselor). ●​ Schedule ML students in heterogeneous classes whenever possible and ensure classes develop inclusive environments where students feel comfortable practicing language. ●​ Review classes each quarter and change as needed. For example, students with a higher Lexile score and success in content area classes like ELA and/or Social Studies may not need an ELD and/or Literacy course. ●​ Reduced schedule considerations: ○​ For high school students, ensure the schedule does not impede progress toward graduation ○​ For middle school students, the goals is to eventually move them back to a full schedule ●​ If a school offers an Academic Prep class, special consideration should be made to group students for individualized student conferencing on goal setting, and to receive extra support in content classes. ○​ If an ML is not scheduled in an Academic Prep or an ELD/Literacy class, build in opportunities for individual student conferencing and support with content courses. Resources Contact Information Academic History Interview Progress Questionnaire Key Terms

Last Updated April 14, 2025 ​

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Literacy, Page 17