English Language Learners (ELLs) meet state standards and develop English language proficiency in an environment where language and cultural assets are recognized as valuable resources to learning.The Lynden School District strives to remove learning barriers for all learners including those yet acquiring proficiency in English while they simultaneously acquire academic proficiency within a standards-based system. Therefore, educators value and welcome the many contributions you and your child(ren) provide by choosing to be part of the learning community in the Lynden School District.
Lynden School District ELL Resources
The district recognizes that families benefit from having access to information in their own language. Please contact the district’s Special Programs Office to request information in a language or format that best suits your needs. Here is a link to a Parent Brochure on Bilingual Education. It currently is available in 17 languages, including:https://www.k12.wa.us/MigrantBilingual/ParentBrochure.aspxYou can also click on the PDF of the language you prefer below:
Language | Link |
---|---|
English | |
Amharic | |
Arabic | |
Burmese | |
Chinese | |
Chuukese | |
Hindi | |
Japanese | |
Khmer | |
Korean | |
Marshallese | |
Nepali | |
Punjabi | |
Romanian | |
Russian | |
Samoan | |
Somali | |
Spanish | |
Tagalog | |
Telugu | |
Tigrigna | |
Ukrainian | |
Vietnamese | PDF |
School Districts are required to help students learn English
School districts must ensure that students with limited English proficiency are able to participate meaningfully in school and are not denied access to equal educational opportunities. Since knowing and using English well is necessary for success in school, it is important that students who need additional help learning English get the help they need.
Language acquisition programs are required to have:
Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program and Title III
The Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program is funded by the state of Washington, and the Title III program is funded by the federal government. The goal of both is for students to develop English language proficiency while developing academics at grade level.
Funding for the Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program and Title III may pay for things like teacher salaries, professional development and training for teachers, specialized materials to help students learn English, parent involvement and literacy activities, instruction outside of the typical school day, and translation and interpretation specific to the program.
What is a Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program? A Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program:
While research has shown that students learning English in a bilingual instruction program tend to be more academically successful in the long term than those in English-only programs, districts – like Lynden – that do not have the capacity to provide bilingual instruction can help students learn English through Sheltered Instruction instructional methods.Sheltered Instruction is an approach for teaching in strategic ways that make academic concepts comprehensible while promoting students’English language development. Lynden School District has identified that it uses the Sheltered Instruction model and continues to see students acquire English proficiency and exiting the ELL services at a desirable rate. Where students struggle the most,however, is to acquire academic proficiency in content areas such as reading, mathematics, and science.
What are the benefits of learning two languages?
Knowing more than one language is a skill to be valued and encouraged. Studies have shown that when children continue to learn their native language, this does not interfere with learning English – it makes the process easier!
Some of the benefits of bilingualism are:
Source: If Your Child Learns in Two Languages by Nancy Zelasko and Beth Antunez (U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, August 2000)
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