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District 21 reports rising English‑learner exit rates; language services to expand screenings and refine K–5 dual bilingual allocations
Summary
District director of language services presented preliminary ACCESS assessment data showing increases toward the 4.8 state criterion, described program changes for K–5 Spanish and Russian bilingual classrooms, and outlined summer screenings and placement plans for new students.
Wheeling CCSD 21’s director of language services, Anya Figueroa, presented an update June 12 on services for English learners (ELs), preliminary ACCESS assessment results and program adjustments for the 2025–26 school year.
Figueroa told the board that roughly 53–54% of the district’s students qualify as English learners and that the district’s top home languages remain Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian. She said the district is aligning instruction to the WIDA 2020 English language development standards and that the state-administered ACCESS assessment will incorporate the WIDA 2020 standards next year.
Why it matters: ACCESS exit criteria (state benchmark 4.8 overall) indicate when students have the academic English proficiency to access grade-level instruction without EL-specific scaffolds.…
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