• Desoto Parish English Learner District Plan

• Parents Guide to ELPT

• Office of Civil Rights EL Guidance

• EL Family Toolkit

The goal of the English Learner (EL) Program is to provide high-quality instruction in the English language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Similarly, we strive to provide appropriate modifications and accommodations in the mainstream classrooms while engaging in high-quality Tier I curriculum, so that English Learners may develop the English language skills necessary to successfully achieve both academically in school and socially in the United States.

A student in Louisiana is classified as an English Learner (EL) according to Louisiana BESE Bulletin 741. A student identified as an English Learner must:

1. be between the ages of 3 through 21;

2. be enrolled in an English-speaking elementary school or secondary school;

3. not have been born in the United States or has a native language other than English; and

4. have difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language such that such challenges maybe sufficient to deny them:

   1. the ability to meet the state’s proficient level of achievement on state assessments;

   2. the ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of instruction is English, or

   3. the opportunity to participate fully in society.

A student identified as an English Learner may be:

1. a Native American, Alaska Native, or a native resident of outlying areas and comes from an environment where a language other than English has had a significant impact on his or her level of English language proficiency; OR

2. migratory, having a native language other than English, and come from an environment where a language other than English is dominant.