District multilingual report: 1 in 3 students speaks a language other than English; leaders highlight DLI and supports

GRESHAM, Ore. — The district’s multilingual‑learners director reported at the Aug. 21 work session that about 33% of students in Gresham‑Barlow speak a language other than English and that Spanish is by far the largest language group in the system. Sarah Felipe, director of multilingual learners and dual language instruction, told the board the district has roughly 1,900 students who are current ELLs (emerging multilingual learners) and that the district is expanding its Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program to build bilingual proficiency and improved academic outcomes. Felipe said DLI students in early grades show higher rates of English or Spanish proficiency than EML students who are not in DLI programs. The presentation included several classifications used by staff: newcomers, former ELLs (previously exited from services), monitored students (post‑exit monitoring), and the dual‑identified group (students with both special education needs and multilingual status). Felipe said that students who exit multilingual services and are monitored often perform as well as or better than peers who were never in an ELL program, citing state data trends. District leaders described a strategy focused on embedding multilingual supports across instruction, co‑planning and co‑teaching between classroom teachers and ELD and special education specialists, and strengthening language‑development routines across grades. Felipe said the district will continue to expand DLI grades while maintaining nondiscriminatory access to services for newcomers and students with interrupted formal education. Board members asked staff to bring comparative artifacts and to show how multilingual student supports will be monitored and reported in the fall and at future board work sessions.