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District ESOL director: fewer students in program, steady top languages and focus on exiting students

October 10, 2025 | SILOAM SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT, School Districts, Arkansas


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District ESOL director: fewer students in program, steady top languages and focus on exiting students
At an October board meeting, ESOL staff reviewed the district's annual English‑learner identification and support practices, and presented year‑to‑year enrollment and assessment data.

"So if that language is anything other than English on that survey, the state identifies them as an ESL student," said Amy Carter, ESOL director, describing the student identification process that begins with the home‑language survey and follows with an ELPA screener. Carter explained that a subset of students move into a four‑year monitoring status after meeting proficiency thresholds.

The district reported a drop of nearly 100 students currently served in ESOL compared with the prior year; staff suggested several reasons including stronger early exits after successful instruction, fewer new‑to‑country arrivals, and demographic shifts as children of earlier arrivals enter kindergarten and already speak English. Carter said the district added an ESOL teacher at the intermediate level and another at kindergarten to handle volume.

Top languages the district serves remain Spanish, Hmong, Marshallese and Vietnamese; the district also uses a third‑party interpretation service (Propio) for languages beyond Spanish, such as Kenyan and Marshallese families when school staff do not have in‑house capacity.

Staff emphasized outcomes and accountability: ELPA 21 assessment results feed into the state accountability system and district letter grades because English‑language proficiency contributes to growth measures. Carter and other staff said improved ELPA scores would raise point totals on state rubrics used to calculate school letter grades. District administrators said they are pushing to exit students once they meet criteria, and are using coaching and targeted supports to speed progress.

The presentation included operational steps: teacher training funded by state grant opportunities, a planned teacher‑placement committee to address impacts if building configurations change, and a goal that all teachers support English learners in classroom instruction rather than leaving support solely to ESOL specialists.

No board vote was required; trustees asked clarifying questions about assessment windows and monitoring periods. "If they are proficient, then they just measure those, how many kids tested out and how many kids didn't, and that's where we garner our percentage," Carter said when asked how proficiency is counted.

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