Welcome to Title III
image of students EL

The Shenandoah County Title III Program serves culturally and linguistically diverse students whose native language is not English. The objective of the program is to provide students with the English and academic skills needed to be successful, active participants in the local community. All students in the Title III program receive content based instruction that is aligned with county standards, state standards and World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) standards.

Meet the EL Teams
Northern Campus
All in a day's work
What do all these acronyms mean?

There are many terms used to describe English learners. Most currently, our county uses the acronym EL, shortened from English Learner, and the teachers who work with language learners are called EL Specialists. Here are other acronyms that you may come across:

ML--Multilingual Learner

ELL--English Language Learner

LEP--Limited English Proficient

ESL--English as a Second Language

ESOL--English to Speakers of Other Languages

Assessment of EL Students

3 months ago

LEP students in Shenandoah County not only participate in state standardized tests and county required tests, but are also assessed on their English proficiency.

Initially, students entering Shenandoah County Public Schools are assessed using the WIDA Screener online test.  Students in grades 4-12 will complete all components (listening, reading, speaking, and writing) on the computer.  Students in grades 1-3 will take  listening, reading, and speaking on the computer, but writing is paper/pencil.  Kindergarten students will continue to take the paper/pencil   W-APT test. The test is given to assist educators in identification and placement of ELL students. 

If the student comes from another division that is in the WIDA Consortium, this assessment is not given.  Rather, information from their last ACCESS for ELL's test is used to identify and determine placement.

Every spring, LEP students are assessed using the WIDA ACCESS for ELL's test.  There are four language domains, or components, to the test; listening, reading, speaking, and writing.  The ACCESS for ELLs tests a student's proficiency in social and instructional language, the language of language arts, the language of math, the language of science and the language of social studies.    

For more information on either test, please visit the WIDA website, www.wida.us

WIDA Levels and Descriptors

3 months ago

English Language Learner (ELL) students in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade participated in the administration of the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs® language proficiency test.  ACCESS provides a standardized measurement of academic language proficiency for ELL students throughout the state of Virginia, and in other states.  With this information, we will be able to monitor individual ELL student progress on an annual basis.

 At the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners will process, understand, produce, or use:

 

6 (Reaching)

ʉۢspecialized or technical language reflective of the content areas at grade level

ʉۢa variety of sentence lengths of varying linguistic complexity in extended oral or written discourse as required by the specified grade level

ʉۢoral or written communication in English comparable to English-proficient peers

 

5 (Bridging)

ʉۢspecialized or technical language of the content areas

ʉۢa variety of sentence lengths of varying linguistic complexity in extended oral or written discourse, including stories, essays, or reports

ʉۢoral or written language approaching comparability to that of English-proficient peers when presented with grade-level material

 

4 (Expanding)

ʉۢspecific and some technical language of the content areas

ʉۢa variety of sentence lengths of varying linguistic complexity in oral discourse or multiple, related sentences, or paragraphs

ʉۢoral or written connected discourse with sensory, graphic, or interactive support oral or written language

 with minimal phonological, syntactic, or semantic errors that do not impede the overall meaning of the

communication when presented with oral or written connected discourse with sensory, graphic, or interactive support

 

 3 (Developing)

ʉۢgeneral and some specific language of the content areas

•expanded sentences in oral interaction or written paragraphs

•oral or written language with phonological, syntactic, or semantic errors that may impede the communication, but retain much of its meaning, when presented with oral or written, narrative, or expository descriptions with sensory, graphic, or interactive support

 

2 (Beginning)

ʉۢgeneral language related to the content areas

•phrases or short sentences

•oral or written language with phonological, syntactic, or semantic errors that often impede the meaning of the communication when

 presented with one- to multiple-step commands, directions, questions, or a series of statements with sensory, graphic, or interactive support

 

1 (Entering)

ʉۢpictorial or graphic representation of the language of the content areas

•words, phrases, or chunks of language when presented with one-step commands, directions, WH-, choice, or yes/no questions, or statements with sensory, graphic, or interactive support

•oral language with phonological, syntactic, or semantic errors that often impede meaning when presented with basic oral commands, direct questions, or simple statements with sensory, graphic, or interactive support

 

From www.wida.us