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Ashland provides update on multilingual learners: 930 students report a home language other than English
Summary
Director Christy Arnold told the school committee the district has 930 students (about 31%) reporting a primary language other than English, with 226 current English learners and 239 former ELs in monitoring; the district uses Flashlight 360 for progress monitoring and was recognized by that provider as a top-20 U.S. district for growth.
Christy Arnold, director for English language education, presented the Ashland district’s annual English learner update on Dec. 10, reporting enrollment and assessment trends and the district’s use of progress-monitoring tools.
"As you can see in the district, we have 930 students that report primary language at home that is something other than English," Arnold said, adding that this represents "about 31%" of the district. She reported 226 students are currently in the English Learner program, 239 are former English learners in monitoring, 55 are new-to-U.S. students (22 of them kindergartners), and 35 English learners have disabilities.
Arnold described state ACCESS testing (scores range from 1 to 6) and noted the district’s proficiency target of about 4.2 overall (3.9 literacy). She emphasized that the more important measure for the program is students "making progress" toward those goals and provided school-level progress percentages: roughly 34% of high-school ELs are making progress, 26% at the middle school, with higher rates reported at some elementary sites (Mendez 62%, Warren 82%). Arnold said the district exited about 50 students from EL status last year.
She credited routine use of the Flashlight 360 progress-monitoring tool alongside ACCESS testing for helping teachers track progress, give feedback and set goals. Arnold said Flashlight 360 and related family engagement nights help students and families understand assessment rubrics. She also noted 42 languages are spoken in the district, with Portuguese the single most common language reported.
Committee members asked whether older students’ lower attainment was driven by age and curricular demands; Arnold said that is likely a factor and that she did not have an immediate statewide comparison on hand. Assistant Superintendent Mike (presenting later in the meeting) previewed a broader district achievement report and flagged a 3-percentage-point dip this year for English learners in math as an item of concern to be explored in upcoming presentations.
Next steps include continued use of Flashlight 360 for monitoring, family engagement events this winter and spring, and a fuller achievement-data presentation to the committee at a later meeting.
