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David Douglas details ELD changes to boost graduation for multilingual learners
Summary
District staff told the school board that a surge of recent-arrival multilingual students and ELPA exit rules are depressing graduation rates; they proposed awarding credit through ELD courses, opening electives, sheltered instruction and expanded transcript evaluation to raise on-time graduation.
David Douglas School District staff on Thursday presented detailed data on multilingual learners at David Douglas High School and laid out program changes the district says should raise graduation rates.
Shane Burshell, assistant administrator of multilingual programs, told the board the district registered 151 ninth-through-12th graders this year who indicated a language other than English at home; of newcomers tested with the ELPA screener, 75 were found eligible for services and 44 scored at Level 1 across domains, meaning very limited English proficiency. Burshell said only one newcomer scored proficient on the screener. "The only way to exit from services is to demonstrate proficiency on the ELPA assessment," he said, adding the state no longer allows a portfolio exit process.
The district presented several changes it will start in the fall to give multilingual learners more credit-bearing opportunities and improve on-time graduation: opening electives to multilingual learners with advanced-proficiency peers serving as peer mentors; awarding language-arts and social-studies credit via the ELD department by blocking cohorted ELD classes that yield academic credits; expanding sheltered-instruction sections in science; continuing to honor international transcripts and converting those credits into district core credits when the documentation supports it; and training teachers on translation/interpretation tools and live captioning.
Rolando Flores, assistant principal at David Douglas High School and liaison to the ELD department, said the multilingual cohort is diverse in language background and schooling history. He described three student examples used in the presentation: a recent arrival from Venezuela who arrived with zero credits; a twelfth grader who has received ELD services since kindergarten and will graduate still identified as an active English learner; and a dual-identified ninth grader receiving both special education and ELD supports.
District presenters noted a practical barrier: ELPA is an annual, high-stakes test covering reading, writing, speaking and listening. The board reviewed a sample ELPA writing prompt for grades 6–8 to illustrate the language demand. The district said a recent rule change allowing a student to "bank" a passed domain from ELPA should increase exit rates because students who pass one domain no longer must re‑test that domain each year.
Burshell and Flores said the ELD department already has honored international transcripts this year, documenting roughly 370 total credits and about 190 core credits accepted from incoming international transcripts. The district said some transcript submissions arrive late and staff continue to evaluate them as they come in.
School leaders and board members asked about supports for long-term English learners who have received ELD services many years yet remain active in the program. Staff said they are rethinking integrated models that give such students access to core course content with targeted language supports and personalized goal-setting toward ELPA proficiency.
The board did not take action on this presentation; staff said changes will roll out starting this fall and will include teacher training in June and in‑service sessions.
