ELL Assessments of New Mexico

ELL Assessments of New Mexico

Introduction

Equal education opportunities for all students in New Mexico are currently being driven by the Bilingual Multicultural Education program. The program caters to two basic aims. One of these is to enable all students to become bilingual in English and one other language (Native American, Spanish or others). The other is to set state defined benchmark levels in all subjects.

Discussion

Identification of ELL Students

For identification of ELL students, one of the first steps is to conduct a brief questionnaire and administer the attained results. The survey, commonly known as HLS (Home Language Survey) is not considered compulsory under the federal law. However, New Mexico makes use of HKS to identify the language support services for students. In the Cibola School district, this survey is administered to the students at the time of admission. The execution of the survey is conducted via a school official that questions the parents or caretakers (Allocating Federal Funds for State Programs for English Language Learners, 2011).

Monitoring and Development of English Language

Improvement plans for New Mexico schools; particularly those identified for Grants under the Cibola School District incorporate the role of ELL through various action steps. These include “Mileage Reimbursement and Incentive Pay” to increase the language proficiency and to encourage attendance in schools. In addition, usage of SBA data to increase the student assimilation of English language concepts and skills has also been identified. Furthermore, programs contributing to SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) of students have been designed to promote positive behaviour development among ELL students and teachers (www.ped.state.um.us).

Assessments

The assessment of ELL students is done through the NMELPA (New Mexico English Language Proficiency Assessment). This state approved assessment is to be conducted, monitored and administered by trained professionals only until the level of desired proficiency has been attained. Language ...