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Seaside district reviews English-learner trends, shifts middle-school model to daily ELA with ELD teacher
Summary
At the Seaside School District board meeting, Kate presented the Oregon Department of Education English-learner report (based on 2023–24 data) and described a programmatic change at the middle school that moves from a push-in support model to a daily 60-minute English-language-arts class taught by the ELD teacher to provide more targeted language instruction.
Kate presented the Oregon Department of Education annual review of English-language learners to the Seaside School District board and outlined local program responses. The report — drawn from 2023–24 data and posted on district and ODE websites — shows English learners remain an important and growing part of classrooms statewide and locally. "One of the things you'll see in this big report is that students in elementary school tend to exit ELD at higher rates than students in middle or high school," Kate said, explaining why the district is adjusting models at particular grade levels.
Board members heard details on how students are identified and classified, and on the instructional approaches used across the district. Kate explained four ODE categories (current ELs, former ELs, ever ELs and those who never qualified) and the difference between pull-out, integrated and sheltered instruction. She noted the state estimate that about 11.5 percent of students were current English learners in 2023–24 and described local language diversity that includes Spanish as the predominant home language and smaller numbers speaking Thai, Vietnamese, Mandarin and Hindi.
To address slower progress at the middle-school level, the district changed its model from a "push-in" support approach to one in which the ELD teacher now teaches a dedicated English language arts class for EL students each day. "Now they're getting that every single day, for 60 minutes for a whole middle-school class period," Kate said of the restructured schedule. The board was told the shift is intended to deliver more systematic, targeted language instruction and that the district will monitor results over the coming one to two years.
Kate also discussed funding and staffing constraints: the district receives a limited Title III allocation and therefore emphasizes teacher training and embedded language strategies. Board members asked for side-by-side metrics to compare district ELA, math and graduation rates with state averages; Kate said those comparisons appear in forthcoming state 'report cards' and in the district's data reports. The board requested a deeper data presentation at a later meeting to show where supports are adding progress and where gaps remain.
