- Columbus City Schools
- ESL Enrollment
English as a Second Language - ESL
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ESL Enrollment
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Who Needs ESL?
In the Office for Civil Rights publication The Provision of and Equal Opportunity to Limited English Proficient Students (1992), it states that:
- First, school districts must identify all students whose primary or home language is other than English (PHLOTE).
- The district then needs to assess all PHLOTE students to determine if they are limited English proficient (LEP) and need special language assistance to effectively participate in the district's instructional program.
In order to assure that all potential LEP students are identified and offered ESL services, the Columbus City Schools requires that any student who:
- Was born outside of the United States, in a country where English is not primary language OR
- Has one or both parents who were born outside of the United States, in a country where English is not primary language OR
- First learned to speak a language other than English OR
- Speaks a language other than English at home OR
- Be referred to the ESL Assessment Center for an English language evaluation to determine whether or not ESL services are needed.
NOTE: Children of American born parents stationed overseas in the military do NOT need to be enrolled through the ESL Assessment Center UNLESS they have been schooled in a language other than English.
Students who do not need ESL services are enrolled at their home school by the Assessment Center staff. Copies of enrollment documents and ESL assessment results are forwarded to the receiving school.
Students who do need ESL services are enrolled at a school with an ESL unit. Every effort is made to place students in a building that is as close to their home school as possible. Copies of enrollment documents and ESL assessment results are forwarded to the receiving school.
Please call (614) 365-5281 for information or to schedule an appointment.
Initial Assessment and Placement
The ESL initial assessment takes approximately 45 minutes to administer. While students are being assessed, bilingual personnel assist parents in completing enrollment documents and answer questions regarding the ESL Program and the Columbus City Schools.
The ESL initial assessment tests students' abilities in the domains of listening, speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension of the English language at a grade appropriate level. Students receive an overall ESL Proficiency Level of:
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
- Advanced+
- Proficient
- Students also receive a Proficiency Level in each of the five domains.
Any student who receives a rating of Proficient in all five domains is considered to be proficient in English and not in need of ESL services.The academic performance of these students is monitored by the ESL Assessment Center for two years following the Initial Assessment to assure that students do not fall behind.