Lewiston reports 117 students exited multilingual learner program; enrollment nears 2,000

Liza Macklemore, director of the multilingual learner program for Lewiston Public Schools, told the school committee Monday that 117 students met the state’s proficiency threshold on the Access for ELLs test in 2025 and will exit the district’s multilingual learner program.

The result continues a multi‑year upward trend in exits while the district also saw a large increase in multilingual enrollment. Macklemore said the district counted 1,997 students in the multilingual program as of the afternoon of the meeting and that number could top 2,000 with additional screenings.

The exits are a notable increase from recent years: Macklemore provided district exit counts of 65 in 2022, 79 in 2023 and 106 in 2024. “This year, we had 117 students who demonstrated proficiency on the assessment and will exit the multilingual learner program,” she said, and added the district is “certainly trending in the right direction.”

Why it matters: the Access for ELLs assessment is the state‑accepted test used to determine English proficiency and program exit. Macklemore cautioned that exit counts and exit rates require careful interpretation because they depend on who is tested, the mix of newcomer students and the grade distribution of the multilingual population.

Committee members asked several technical and policy questions. Macklemore noted the district’s preliminary analysis points to a surge of newcomer students this year — “several hundred” who are new to the country — which likely depressed the overall exit rate because national research and local practice show it can take five to seven school years to attain English proficiency. She also said more students participated in the test this year than last, and that increased participation affects percentages.

Committee members pressed on a specific anomaly: no sixth‑grade students met the exit criterion this year. Macklemore said grade‑level testing spans likely play a role: tests for grades 4–5 and for grades 6–8 cover different bands, and “anytime you switch you do tend to see a slight dip.” She added social and emotional changes in preteens and the testing grade‑span break are consistent with national patterns and will be a focus of further analysis.

Macklemore highlighted particular school results and local professional development. “Montello Elementary exited 28 students out of their multilingual program this year,” she said, and praised ESOL teachers there. She also reminded the committee that districtwide SIOP‑style professional development began in 2022, which she said correlates with gains but is not presented as proof of causation.

On testing logistics, Macklemore said state rules require annual testing until a student demonstrates proficiency and that there is a 30‑day cutoff near the end of the testing window: students who enroll within that period are not required to be tested, although the district may test them when feasible. She also reiterated that under state policy, exiting the program requires meeting the Access for ELLs proficiency standard.

The school committee did not take action on the presentation; members asked for additional breakdowns and said they wanted the district’s forthcoming deeper analysis to include growth measures from the Maine Department of Education.

Looking ahead: Macklemore said staff will continue analysis of the grade‑level and newcomer impacts and will report back with growth‑based measures and further recommendations for supporting students in grade 6 and in secondary grades where exits remain lower.