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Dover reports gains for multilingual learners on ACCESS; district plans program expansions and screening clarifications
Summary
Presenters said ACCESS scores rose districtwide and 64 students met the 4.5 exit threshold this year. Staff outlined screening procedures, dual-language expansion and professional development for sheltered instruction.
Ms. Norman and Ms. Rodriguez presented the district's 2025 ACCESS for ELLs results and described programmatic responses for multilingual learners (MLs). ACCESS scores measure English-language proficiency across listening, speaking, reading and writing; a composite score of 4.5 or higher is the district's threshold for recommending exit from the ML program.
Presenters said the district administered ACCESS annually under the WIDA consortium and that districtwide trends from 2023 to 2025 show reduced proportions at the lowest proficiency level (level 1 dropped from 45% to 32%) and increases in mid-range proficiencies (level 3 and 4). They reported that 64 students exited the ML program this year with scores of 4.5 or higher, an increase from prior years. Presenters noted many students stop taking ACCESS once they meet the exit threshold, which affects distributions at higher score levels.
Norman and Rodriguez emphasized that 58% of tested K'11 MLs (districtwide) have been in Dover two years or less; for grades 6â the share was 55% and for high school 46%. They said the district is continuing dual-language expansion up to fourth grade, piloting a phonics program for Kâ, broadening sheltered-instruction professional development, expanding co-teaching and adding targeted ELA/math interventions tied to LinkIt and other formative benchmarks.
Board members sought specifics on screening and parental choice. Presenters explained the district screens students based on the state-required home-language survey at enrollment; families may decline services and must sign an annual declination under new state guidance. The presenters said parents are notified of recommended placement and the district meets with families to explain implications before recording a declination; students who decline still must take ACCESS.
When asked how long it typically takes students to reach proficiency, presenters said language acquisition varies but cited an average range of three to seven years; dual-language students who entered in kindergarten showed faster gains and many were at or above 3.5 by fourth grade.
District plans discussed included expanding dual-language through grade 4, increasing in-house sheltered-instruction trainers among bilingual/ESL coaches, piloting phonics in early grades, and expanding advanced ESL offerings in middle and high school. Presenters and the superintendent highlighted that statewide research shows many English learners have not yet returned to pre-pandemic proficiency levels and said Dover's year-over-year growth compared favorably to national trends.
The presentation did not produce a board vote; board members asked staff to continue monitoring progress and to report additional disaggregated data later in the fall.
