What is progress monitoring for ELs and exited students?

Being “multilingual” is not a temporary stage. Students who speak multiple languages will have that part of their identity and all of the assets it brings long after their formal education ends. But within the K-12 education system, labels like “current English learner” and “former English learner,” “reclassified,” or “exited” refer to the stage of their language development that a student is in, with different progress goals tied to each. 

As educators of ELs, our role is ensuring that these students’ needs are met to move successfully through all parts of their multilingual learning journey. Through progress monitoring, we can collect and act on the information needed to ensure that students are meeting the goals tied to their stage of learning. A comprehensive approach to progress monitoring is essential for empowering educators to make informed decisions about instruction and ensure that all students, both current and exited from EL programs, are set up for long-term academic success.

Understanding progress monitoring for EL students

The goal or purpose of progress monitoring for a student actively enrolled in an English language learning program is to ensure that the student is making adequate progress on their journey towards language proficiency. Progress monitoring for current EL students focuses primarily on the students’ development in the four domains of language: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. While it's important to also ensure students are progressing in acquiring content, language acquisition is the primary focus.

A clear starting place for progress monitoring ELs is to analyze the quantitative data available for the student; this means looking at students’ ELP tests, benchmarks, and other formative assessments. This information can provide a snapshot of how an English learner is doing in their language acquisition journey,  but quantitative data alone is not a comprehensive look. In the same way that we have all taken a really flattering - or unflattering - picture, we know that one single moment in time is not enough to accurately depict who we are.

For a holistic understanding of an EL, we need qualitative data as well -  real-life validation and observation from multiple teachers and across multiple content areas. Information like specific speaking or listening skills that a teacher has observed from the student, why they seem to be struggling in their growth areas, and even evidence of contributing factors like excessive absences or social/emotional needs is needed to get a clear picture of an EL student. Then educators can determine how to use the quantitative and qualitative data to make informed decisions about instruction.

With Ellevation Platform, users can send out Forms to multiple contributors (the language specialist or ELD teacher, all content teachers, and and other stakeholders from adjacent departments like an IEP/Special Education team when applicable) to review the quantitative data and collect additional feedback and observations on reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Forms allows educators to look holistically at an individual EL and determine where they are doing well and areas for additional support. 

Educators can look at trends for the individual student across their content areas, but it also enables them to zoom out further to look for trends in an entire class, grade, school, or even district. With the right tools in place, districts can collect and analyze data to make programmatic changes and district-wide improvements to better support English learners on their journey to proficiency.

Progress monitoring for exited EL students

Once students reach their goal of English proficiency and are exited from the EL program, does progress monitoring end as well? Nope - educators should continue to ensure that students have what they need to be successful in their education journey. In fact, all schools have the compliance requirement to monitor their students after they exit for at least two years. But now the subject of our progress monitoring evolves to meet the new stage of the student’s language journey. 

We are no longer focusing on the student meeting language proficiency in the different domains, but now focus on whether they are able to be successful meeting content learning goals or academically and that they are maintaining their overall language proficiency. Progress is not limited to language learning, but part of the entire learning journey of our students.

Progress monitoring for exited EL students can be thought of as a safety net precaution: we want to make sure that students were not exited from the EL program before they were ready and that they are equipped to navigate their content classes without those additional language supports. If, through progress monitoring, we realize they are struggling, we can then determine areas they would benefit from additional support and ensure that they have the help they need to succeed. In this stage, the content teachers are key contributors for monitoring these students, and it’s important that those educators have both the training and resources available to be effective.

Key takeaways:

Think you got all that? To summarize, here are the key takeaways to keep in mind when making plans or decisions around progress monitoring for current or former ELs moving forward:

• Progress monitoring is essential for both current and exited EL students. It ensures that students are on track with language acquisition and academic content, with distinct goals tied to their stage of language development.
• For current EL students, progress monitoring focuses on language development first. It involves both quantitative data (assessments, benchmarks) and qualitative data (teacher observations across content areas and feedback from various stakeholders) to create a complete picture of a student's progress.
• Exited EL students still require progress monitoring. After reaching English proficiency, students are monitored to ensure they maintain language skills and succeed academically, with a compliance requirement of at least two years post-exit.
• A holistic approach to progress monitoring supports informed decisions. Gathering data from multiple contributors, such as language specialists and content teachers, allows for personalized instructional strategies to ensure all EL students thrive.

This blog was written in collaboration with Rocío Figueroa, a dedicated advocate for educational equity who presently holds the position of Senior Instructional Content Manager at Ellevation. Rocío is equipped with a master's degree in educational leadership and possesses nearly two decades of experience in the field of education.