San Mateo-Foster City trustees hear report on multilingual learner gains, staff warn of data limits

At a San Mateo-Foster City School District study session, Ala Cruz, executive director of multilingual learner services, told trustees the district has seen measurable gains for multilingual students while rolling out a new district multilingual learner plan. Cruz said the work focuses on "significantly improving student outcomes" and emphasized programs and family engagement that staff say are beginning to show progress.

"Over 50% of our students in the entire district are considered... multilingual learners," Cruz said, and the district reported that nearly 58 different languages are spoken by students. Cruz said about 22% of those learners are newcomers, roughly 17% are at risk of becoming long-term English learners, and about 16% are already considered long-term English learners.

The district described several instructional and family-support strategies. Staff introduced a new middle-school ELD curriculum and three K' signature strategies, including a classroom "language function wall" that teachers use to scaffold speaking and writing. Cruz said the Summit K12 pilot served about 388 students across 20 schools this year and that coaches and multilingual TOSAs have been embedded in Title I sites to support teachers.

Cruz highlighted changes in reclassification and assessment outcomes: "We continue to increase the number of students that make progress towards reclassification," she said, noting the district's reclassification count rose from 153 students in 2020 to 581 last school year. On one locally used measure (PATH), the share of multilingual students meeting or exceeding expectations rose from 54% in 2023 to 60% this year; Cruz said recently reclassified students scored much higher on the NWEA/NWA assessment (about 68% for reclassified students versus 7% overall for grades 3'8), a difference staff attributed to grade-level cohorts and new assessment reporting.

Trustees pressed for more detail about the assessment discrepancy and definitions. When asked how the district defines a long-term English learner, staff replied the California dashboard defines it as seven years or more, while "our working definition for our district is six or more years." On the NWEA/NWA difference, staff said the assessment pipeline is new: some districtwide reporting is still being cleaned and staff have "75% to 80% confidence" in the current NWEA/NWA district reports; student-level files appear clean, but aggregated reports need further work.

The presentation also covered equity and family-engagement initiatives: multilingual snapshots for families (a report card shared at conferences), expanded reclassification pathways for dually identified students (multilingual students in special education), and plans to extend the district's Seal of Biliteracy pathway award to more fifth- and eighth-grade students. Cruz said the district will recognize 176 students next week (up from 166 last year) and plans to broaden eligibility.

Board members also asked about bilingual staffing incentives; staff confirmed that teachers with a BCLAD certificate receive an additional stipend under contract. Trustees asked about the Mandarin master plan and middle-school pathway recommendations; Cruz said the team is editing the plan and plans to present recommendations to the board in May.

Cruz and staff outlined next steps: finalize ELPAC (state ELD assessment) results, clean districtwide NWEA reporting, disaggregate ELPAC/NWEA by school to examine whether community schools or other site-level programs accelerate multilingual learners more quickly, and continue expanding K'5 designated ELD supports and newcomer protocols. The board opened the meeting for public questions and adjourned at 6:37 p.m.

The study session contained no formal policy votes on curriculum or staffing; the agenda was approved at the start of the meeting and the session was later adjourned by voice vote.