Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the English Learners Access topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cary 26 reports record ACCESS gains for English learners; 24 students exited EL services this year
Summary
District staff told the board Cary School District 26 doubled the state exit rate for English learners this year, with 24 students exiting EL services and continued focus on speaking and writing instruction.
District staff on May 27 reported that Cary School District 26 posted its strongest ACCESS English language proficiency results in district history, with 24 students exiting English learner services in the 2024–25 testing cycle.
"We blew it out of the water this year with ACCESS. This is the best we've ever done in Cary history," an English learner program staff member told the Board, summarizing the results. The presenter said the district had 385 identified English learners in prekindergarten through eighth grade and that 344 students took the ACCESS test this year.
The presenter told the board the district’s exit rate was 14.3% this year compared with a state average exit rate of 6.2%. She described level distributions: 178 students scored between 1.0 and 3.4 and therefore qualify for full-time EL services; part-time EL counts rose from 119 to 128 students this year; exit requires a composite score of 4.8. The district also reported that the number of exits rose from four students in February 2022 to 24 in February 2025.
The ACCESS assessment is given annually and is used to place students for the following year, the presenter said. The test assesses listening, speaking, reading and writing; the district emphasized that continued work will focus on speaking and writing as areas for growth. The presenter explained the district monitors any student who exits EL services for two years, with three check-ins per year, to ensure students continue to perform well academically.
Board members praised the results and asked for clarifications. One board member asked whether the students shown in a particular chart were current testers or monitored students; the presenter replied that the specific groups in question were students who took the test that year and not monitored students. Another member asked whether the 91 students in the slide included monitored students; the presenter clarified that year‑one monitors (students who exited the prior year) were separate from the current-year test counts.
District leaders credited instructional planning and targeted professional development for the gains and said next steps include continued oracy instruction, purposeful small-group language development and continued professional learning for teachers. The board did not take a formal vote on the ACCESS presentation; it was an informational item.
