ELL Admiting to ELL courses and exiting from them...

 There seems to be a discrepancy in the world of English language learners. The first being the survey that puts them into English language courses to begin with, and the second being the requirements to exit them from the courses. An article by Salerno and Andrei (2021) discusses the varying Home Language Surveys (HLS) used by the 50 states in determining which children get tested for English language services. Their student looks at the different questions and the different requirements across the nation and determine that based on the requirements from the USDOE that various states use the requirements very differently. As part of their study they even filled out and submitted the form for different case studies to various states and the results varied. Part of the problem is the way the questions are written. Their can be misinterpretation based on the wording of the questions, as well as, a lack of a full picture of the language use of the child both positively and negatively. 

In the state of California, the HLS has four questions: 

1. Which language did your child learn when they first began to talk?

2. Which language does your child most frequently speak at home?

3. Which language do you (the parents and guardians most frequently

use when speaking with your child?

4. Which language is most often spoken by adults in the home?

(parents, guardians, grandparents, or any other adults)

These questions do not take into account the fact that the child may speak a language other than their primary language more often, or that they have been in school elsewhere and are fluent in this language, or speak it with their friends. I have many students who speak English fluently, who still only speak another language at home with their parents because their parents never learned English. Some of these students learned English before they moved to the US or before they started kindergarten. 

Once these students enter ELD courses, they have to meet whatever the state, district, and/or school's requirements are to exit. These requirements are often very rigorous and their lack of ability to exit has nothing to do with their language skills. I know many of my fluent English speakers who would not be able to meet these requirements.

These systems need to be reevaluated, so those students who need them are getting them, but those who do not or who are really working towards exiting do not feel they are being punished for working hard. 

We are working to help students not harm them, and this system seems to need to be looked at a little closer.