Manassas City presents ESOL program update and pilot of Summit K12 tutoring for English learners

Manassas City Public Schools on Wednesday provided a data-centered briefing on services for English learners and described a fall pilot of Summit K12 supplemental tutoring aimed at improving students’ academic English proficiency.

Kurt Emil, director of federal programs and family engagement, told the School Board the district uses the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs assessment to track English language development and to guide instruction. “One of the most important roles that I play in the division is the oversight and management of our English for speakers of other languages program,” Emil said.

The presentation explained how ACCESS measures proficiency across four domains—listening, reading, speaking and writing—and how the district groups students into WIDA proficiency levels 1 (entering) through 4 (expanding). Emil outlined state-mandated minimum minutes of ESOL service per week by level: 300 minutes for level 1, 225 minutes for level 2, and 200 minutes for levels 3 and 4. He said ACCESS informs placement, accommodations and instructional planning under the Every Student Succeeds Act and Virginia’s English language development standards.

To address slow progress at Metz Middle School (the district’s 6–8 grade cluster), the division piloted Summit K12 after researching Lexia and Summit. Emil said Summit K12 was chosen because it correlates to WIDA ACCESS tiers and supports tiered instruction for level 1, level 2 and long‑term English learners. The pilot, run from Sept. 23 to Dec. 16, invited 125 students; 109 consented and 90 attended sessions. Families were offered four free family licenses per enrolled student so household members could access English‑learning materials at no charge.

Emil reported preliminary, program‑collected gains from the pilot’s summative checks (not official ACCESS results): average increases of 0.35 proficiency points in listening, 0.15 in reading and 0.48 in speaking. He said the program’s average minutes of use per participating student was about 417 minutes (under seven hours) during the fall term. Emil noted the team did not complete a summative measure for writing within the pilot period.

The district also runs face‑to‑face adult ESL classes at Metz (the division’s hub for adult learning), and Emil said Summit K12 provides family licenses at no cost to participating households. He acknowledged the vendor is still developing reporting tools to show family uptake.

Board members pressed for school‑level breakdowns of WIDA proficiency and more clarity on performance benchmarks. Vice Chair Spall and other members asked whether Summit K12 was used during instructional time; Emil said the tutoring sessions were supplemental and after school, funded with federal Title 3 grant dollars and therefore required to be “above and beyond” core instruction. Emil added the ACCESS testing window runs Jan. 13–March 21 and the division must test about 3,070 students during that period.

Emil described the district’s criteria for inviting students to the pilot: initially level 1, level 2 and long‑term English learners (students in EL services more than five years), later expanded to levels 1–4. Because participation was voluntary, the roster narrowed from invited pupils to 90 attendees. He said his office selected Metz for the pilot because of demonstrated need and a collaborative relationship with Metz’s principal; Baldwin Intermediate and other schools have since taken up the program.

Emil and board members emphasized that ACCESS is an English proficiency measure, not a content test, and that meaningful progress often requires small gains on the WIDA scale. He referenced the district’s ESSA plan and the composite proficiency level gains chart to explain how progress is quantified for different proficiency bands.

Board members commended staff for outreach: a Sept. 12 family information session at Metz drew 51 families, and the district’s family liaison followed up with families to support enrollment. Emil said the division will continue evaluating the Summit K12 pilot and report additional results to the board; he also said any continued subscription depends on grant funding decisions yet to be clarified by the state.

For now, the district is continuing supplemental tutoring at Metz and Baldwin, offering adult ESL classes, and encouraging family use of Summit K12 licenses while tracking participation and outcomes.