Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
Arizona
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As of the 2007-2008 school year, Arizona's schools were home to more than 166,000 English language learners (ELLs), which marks a 48% from the 1997-1998 school year (NCELA, 2010). The top five languages or language groups spoken by ELLs in Arizona are Spanish, Navajo, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russian (EPE, 2009).
State ELL Resources
State Agency: Arizona Department of Education
ELL Website: Office of English Language Acquisition Services (OELAS)
ELL Identification
The laws and regulations regarding how students are identified and annually assessed may be found in the guidelines issued by the Structured English Immersion Models of the Arizona English Language Learners Task Force.
Home Language Survey: The Primary Home Language Other Than English (PHLOTE) is available on the state website in English and Spanish.
Placement Exam: Arizona English Language Learner Assessment (AZELLA)
ELP Standards & Assessment
Statewide ELP Standards: AZ English Language Proficiency Standards
Statewide Assessment of English Language Development: Arizona English Language Learner Assessment (AZELLA)
AZELLA Accommodations: Test Accommodations for the Administration of the AZELLA.
Use of AZELLA: "New ELLs, in the first year of education in an Arizona school, shall take the AZELLA at least twice during the first school year, once at the beginning of the year, or upon initial entry to school, and once at the end of the school year for purposes of measuring progress. Continuing ELLs shall be reassessed with the AZELLA at the end of each school year. English language learners shall be given the opportunity to take the AZELLA at a mid-point of the academic year for the purpose of measuring progress toward English language proficiency. No student shall take the AZELLA more than three times in a school year." (Structured English Immersion Models of the Arizona English Language Learners Task Force, pg. 3)
ELL Instruction
Arizona's State Department of Education provides Local Education Agencies [LEAs] with key laws and regulations regarding the education of English learners. This includes the requirement that students be taught in English using a format that the state refers to as structured English immersion (SEI). (Arizona State Legislature, 15-753.)
Further, ELLs in their first year must be given four hours of English language development instruction. Identification of English language learners (15-756.01). Further, under the laws and in compliance with federal law, the monitoring of former English learners must be done for two years (15-756.06).
Under Arizona state law, found in Title 15, chapter 7, article 3.1 and referred to as English Language Education for Children in Public Schools, all ELLs must be provided with a program of structured English immersion instruction. In compliance with federal laws, all ELLs must be identified and provided with a research-based model of structured English immersion that is known to be sound and properly resourced.
Statewide Standards-Based Assessment
Assessment: Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS)
ELL Accommodations: Information about AIMS accommodations for ELLs can be found under the Testing Accommodations Guidelines (updated yearly).
Additional Information
NCELA: Title III Information
The state provides additional Title III resources, as well as sample parent notification letters regarding annual measurable objectives achievement in English and Spanish.
Common Core State Standards: Yes
Arizona Education Association is a National Education Association State Affiliate that regularly lobbies legislators for the resources schools need, campaigns for higher professional standards for the teaching profession, and files legal actions to protect academic freedom and the rights of school employees.
Arizona State Parent Information Resource Centers
"Arizona State PIRC is a technical assistance center helping schools, families and community agencies implement successful parental involvement programs and policies that lead to improvements in student academic achievement."
AZ-TESOL (Arizona TESOL) is the Arizona state affiliate of TESOL, the international professional organization for educators in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
References
Editorial Projects in Education (EPE). "Most Common Non-English Languages Spoken by ELL Youths, by State." Perspectives on a Population: English-Language Learners in American Schools (Education Week's Quality Counts 2009 Report). Pg. 13. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2009/01/08/index.html. January 2009.
Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students. Arizona Rate of EL Growth (1997/98-2007/08). Compiled July 2010 and retrieved from http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/t3sis/state/arizona/data.
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