Fair Lawn Public Schools

Upon entering the Fair Lawn School District, parents are asked to complete a Home Language Survey. This is the first step in identifying children who may qualify for ESL services. A series of tests are administered to the child. If eligible, based on multiple criteria, the child is entered into Fair Lawn's ESL Program. A letter is sent home to inform the parents that their child qualifies for ESL services. Parents do have the right to refuse services which is in accordance with New Jersey State law

The WIDA Consortium's English Language Proficiency Standards for English Language Learners (ELLs) in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 encompass:

1. Language for Social and Instructional Purposes.

2. Language for Language Arts

3. Language for Mathematics

4. Language for Science

5. Language for Social Studies

Learn about WIDA

Fair Lawn School District offers a content-based program, where students receive specific instruction which is structured around academic content. The goal is to accelerate English acquisition through the use of Thematic Units along with the use of the four language skills-listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students receive small group instruction daily. At the elementary level, students receive one period of services. However, if your child speaks Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, or if they are a newcomer student, he or she will receive an additional 30 minutes of support in writing. At the middle school and high school levels, students take English with a certified ESL teacher.

The program has its own curriculum with its own set of standards. Much of it is similar to that of the regular classroom, and the curriculum meets state standards. Our program follows the principles of CALLA, which is a Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach. We teach grade level topics which increase academic language skills and provide learning strategies for both language acquisition and academic content. Our curriculum provides students with knowledge in the areas of Math, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, and Social and Instructional Language. In addition, students learn about holidays and special events that embrace other cultures. Children's language, culture, and values are acknowledged and respected. Using a multi-sensory approach, the classroom provides students with a rich environment in which they can succeed

Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners

Each year, your child's English is measured using the ACCESS test. The goal of the test is for students to be able to demonstrate their acquisition of the English language which is measured by how proficient they are in 5 content areas which include:

• Social and Instructional Language

• Language Arts

• Math

• Science

• Social Studies

They are also assessed in the 4 domains which include: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.
This test allows students to demonstrate their level of proficiency of the English language in order for them to be successful in the mainstream classroom. Below is a series of links that will provide you with a comprehensive explanation. Please click on each title below to access the information.

1. Part 1. My child is an English Language Learner

2. Part 2. How is my child's language development supported at school?

3. Part 3. How do I know if my child is making progress?

In 2015-16, Fair Lawn began administration of a new, annual summative assessment, ACCESS for ELLs 2.0. This is an online assessment which has replaced the current paper-based version of ACCESS for ELLs for Grades 1-12.

Like ACCESS for ELLs, the new assessment allows educators, students, and families to monitor students’ progress in acquiring academic English in the domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing and will be aligned with the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards. Purpose and Use of ACCESS for ELLs 2.0

• Help students understand their current level of English language proficiency along the developmental continuum.

• Serve as one of multiple measures used to determine those students prepared to exit English language support programs.

• Provide teachers with information they can subsequently use to enhance instruction and learning in programs for their English language learners.

• Provide districts with information that will help them evaluate the effectiveness of their ESL/bilingual programs.

Features

As with ACCESS for ELLs, the tasks on the new summative assessment attempts to replicate the kinds of communicative situations (and the language needed to be processed or produced within them) that might be encountered in different school contexts. Each assessment item and task will target at least one of the five WIDA ELD Standards:

• Language for Social and Instructional Purposes.

• Language for Language Arts

• Language for Mathematics

• Language for Science

• Language for Social Studies

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 continues to assess each of the four language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing separately.

FILES

The WIDA MODEL for Kindergarten is an English language proficiency test designed for children entering Kindergarten .Children who will be entering Kindergarten in the fall are administered the Listening and Speaking sections. Should your child enter during the spring of Kindergarten , he/she is administered the Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing sections. The Reading and Writing sections are adaptive and can be discontinued once a student reaches his or her performance ceiling.

Purpose

Purposes of WIDA MODEL for Kindergarten is intended for use as one data source to assist in making decisions related to the identification and placement of young English language learners and in monitoring their English language growth.

As a screening tool, the information from the WIDA MODEL helps identify English language learners, determine their level of English language proficiency, and place qualified students into language education services.

Fair Lawn will begin utilizing the WIDA Screener in 2018. The WIDA Screener is an English language proficiency assessment given to incoming students in Grades 1-12 to assist educators with the identification of students as English language learners (ELLs). The purpose of this assessment is to help educators make decisions about whether a student is a candidate for English language support services. It is a flexible, on-demand language proficiency assessment that can be administered at any time during the school year. WIDA Screener assesses the four language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

Principal Difference between WIDA Screener Online and WIDA Screener Paper

All parts of the WIDA Screener Online are computer-delivered, with the exception of the Writing test for students in Grades 1–3, who hand-write their responses in paper test booklets. To address concerns regarding the keyboarding skills of students at this age group, the writing portion of the online test is presented in paper/pencil format.
All parts of WIDA Screener Paper are administered on paper.