Alexandra Chenover, an instructional-strategy specialist in the Louisiana Department of Education’s Division of Diverse Learners, used the department’s first English Learner Institute for the 2025–26 school year to introduce a revised statewide framework for supporting English learners and to outline required deadlines and new supports for districts.

The framework, Chenover said, is organized around five pillars — leadership and program development; rigorous instruction and collaborative planning; data‑informed decisions; planning for future success; and family support systems — and includes tiered expectations based on district EL population. “This strategy creates a road map for EL programming,” Chenover said, adding the framework is intended to guide professional learning, walkthroughs and monitoring across state, district, school and classroom levels.

Why it matters: the department tied the rollout to compliance and accountability work that districts must complete this fall. Chenover told attendees the updated Lau plan template — the district-level plan for identifying and supporting English learners — is now in the department’s eGMS portal and must be submitted by Oct. 31. She repeatedly urged district leaders to share EL data with teachers and to use the new materials to align schedules, staffing and instruction so ELs receive daily language supports in content classes.

Key deadlines and procedural guidance

Chenover emphasized several timing and procedural points districts should apply this school year. The updated Lau plan template is due in eGMS by Oct. 31; she asked districts that do not have eGMS access to contact their business manager or the department for assistance. She recommended that accommodations be entered by October 1 so teachers have time to use them and to determine whether an Individualized Language Acquisition Plan (ILAP) is needed.

On ILAPs, Chenover said the department’s guidance and a sample ILAP are in the materials distributed at the institute and in the forthcoming handbook update. ILAPs are intended for students who are not making language progress or newcomers; the department recommends selecting students for ILAPs after the first six to nine weeks of school (or after a full nine‑week cycle) and setting no more than two to three measurable goals focused on the four language domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Data, assessments and dashboards

The presentation stressed immediate, teacher‑level access to English proficiency data. Chenover described the EOPT (English language proficiency test) as the primary annual measure and said the accountability team produces trajectory files that indicate whether students are making expected progress year to year. She urged districts to give principals and teachers early access to those results so instruction can be scaffolded before the EOPT administration in February and before scores are released (the department typically posts proficiency results in May).

Chenover highlighted examples of district data dashboards that make school‑ and classroom‑level EL proficiency and trajectory data visible to teachers and principals. “Teachers must have the data,” she said. “If teachers don’t have it, they can’t make the proper instructional language decisions.” The department plans additional guidance and shared artifacts (a lesson planning checklist, 90‑day implementation tool and exemplar Lau plans) to help districts translate data into lesson planning and teacher collaboration.

Tiered supports and professional learning

The framework includes tiered supports aligned to district EL population sizes. Chenover described the tiers as foundational guidance for planning: tier 1 for systems with roughly 1–100 ELs (foundational supports), tier 2 for 101–999 ELs (expanded supports), and tier 3 for 1,000 or more ELs (advanced supports and data work). The department will run tiered “impact” calls this fall to continue guidance by district size.

The department also distributed several new resources and preview chapters from an expanded EL program handbook (projected to be roughly eight chapters and about 200 pages). Materials available to attendees included: a secondary English‑learner toolkit, a writing toolkit, a novice‑teacher guide, a special‑education referral guide for ELs, and sample ILAPs. Chenover said related professional‑learning modules will be released through the state’s Canopy platform and that attendees may share course access codes with district staff.

Compliance, translations and family engagement

Chenover reminded districts that parent notification, language preference from the home language survey, and the provision of translated materials and interpreters where requested are legal requirements to be honored to the best of the school’s ability. She encouraged districts to plan family engagement events with translation and to make family‑facing documents (placement guidance, ILAPs and grading portal instructions) available in the home language where possible.

Other items and implementation notes

• Growth note: Chenover pointed to statewide EL performance growth — “English learners moved for the first time in over seven years” and statewide EL proficiency grew about 1 percent — as a positive indicator of current efforts.

• UMass Global grant: Chenover said communications about a cohort funded through UMass Global are on hold because funding for that cohort has not been released; some remaining funds from prior cohorts may be used for leaders who preregistered.

• Practice EOPT: she encouraged districts to have teachers and students take the practice EOPT between October and December to familiarize educators with item types and to inform instruction.

• Tiered impact calls and next steps: Chenover listed fall and winter dates for tiered impact calls that will continue the work; she also offered direct technical assistance by email or on‑site visits for districts that request help implementing the framework or completing the Lau plan.

Taken together, the department’s materials and deadlines set an explicit fall implementation calendar: distribute data to schools immediately, submit Lau plans via eGMS by Oct. 31, ensure accommodations are entered by October 1, monitor classrooms and consider ILAPs after an initial data cycle, and use the EOPT and classroom data to guide continuous improvement. Chenover framed the new framework and materials as tools for district leaders, principals and teachers to align schedules, staffing and classroom practice so EL students receive grade‑level instruction with embedded language supports.

Ending

Chenover closed by inviting attendees to use the provided manuals in their systems, sign up for the tiered calls, and bring one or two priorities from page 5 of the framework — the two classroom best practices — back to their leadership teams for fall implementation.