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Nashua board highlights ELL gains and expanded translation services after DOJ settlement
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Andre and ELL director Bob Chopra told the board the district has 2,081 students identified as English language learners and has increased students exiting ELL services; the presentation stressed staffing growth, expanded translation/interpretation supports and new literacy interventions for long‑term ELLs.
Dr. Andre and ELL director Bob Chopra presented a year‑end review of the Nashua School District’s English language learner (ELL) program, saying the district has made measurable progress since a Department of Justice review and subsequent settlement.
“As a department, we have 2,081 students that are identified as English language learners,” Mr. Chopra told the board, and he broke that down: 1,685 students are “active” (not yet tested proficient), 396 are monitored after testing as proficient, and 297 have completed the district monitoring period. He added that 893 students were screened during a districtwide review and did not qualify for services, a number he described as the result of “going through every cumulative folder” and contacting families to confirm screening.
The presentation credited growth in staff and programming: ELL staffing has increased substantially over several years (Mr. Chopra showed a staffing chart) and the district reported double‑digit increases in students exiting ELL services on preliminary ACCESS assessment results. Nashua participates in the WIDA consortium and follows its proficiency banding; Mr. Chopra explained that some year‑to‑year scoring shifts can reflect WIDA standard‑setting changes.
District leaders also highlighted expanded family supports. Two full‑time language assistance coordinators now manage interpretation and translation requests; administration reported 711 requests fulfilled and 13 outstanding at the time of the meeting. Mr. Chopra said the district uses on‑staff interpreters first and, when necessary, contracts with outside agencies to cover less‑common languages.
To address so‑called long‑term ELL students — those in the program five years or more — the district plans to expand literacy supports, bringing successful middle‑school literacy interventions down into elementary grades to reduce the number of students who remain in ELL services for extended periods. Mr. Chopra also described a summer mentoring program that hires high‑school students to support younger learners as part of broader family‑engagement and curriculum‑alignment strategies.
Board members asked about extracurricular access, coach training and whether mentorship and family‑engagement staff could help with permission slips and communication. Mr. Chopra directed questions about coaches’ training to the athletics director and emphasized that most schools have bilingual family‑engagement coordinators who act as a conduit between home and school.
Administration said it will provide more granular data on long‑term ELLs and the district’s plan for tracking progress by school.
The board did not vote on program changes during the presentation; members thanked the ELL team for the update.
