Board hears ELL program update: 4 teachers serve 87 students; staff outline WIDA-based service guidance
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Special services staff told the board the district has four ELL teachers serving 87 students across 30+ languages, explained WIDA guidance on instructional 'periods' and Title III grant uses, and recommended inviting ELL teachers to a future meeting for classroom-level context.
Special services staff briefed the Bedford School Board on English language learner (ELL) staffing and services on Nov. 17, answering community questions and outlining how instruction is delivered under state guidance.
Director Melissa Gray and assistant Lisa Horn reported the district currently has four ELL teachers supporting 87 students who speak more than 30 languages at home. They described using state guidance and WIDA scoring to determine service frequency: students scoring 1–2.9 on WIDA are recommended to receive two instructional periods, while students scoring 3.0 or higher are generally recommended one period. For the presentation, staff explained they modeled instruction using 30‑minute units at the elementary level to create a conservative estimate of required teacher hours.
Gray described how ELL services are delivered — a mix of push‑in supports, small-group and pull‑out instruction — and stressed that ELL teachers also provide significant in-class support to general educators, helping ensure assessments measure targeted skills rather than language proficiency alone. The district runs family engagement efforts (five coffee-and-conversation events per year), maintains an updated ESOL resources webpage, and uses curriculum tools such as Imagine Learning. Title III grant funds were summarized as supporting three pockets of activity: professional development, family engagement and curriculum/materials.
Board members asked for classroom-level examples and requested that ELL teachers attend a future meeting to show how they support classroom teachers and students. Staff agreed to provide more detailed service samples and to confirm whether Title III guidance or state rules constitute a mandatory requirement; Gray said she would check the specific legal citation for any ED rule referenced in conversation.
The board acknowledged the importance of both immersion and targeted pull-out instruction and asked staff to return with further details and dates for family-engagement events.