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Program participation

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires statewide standardized criteria and procedures for the participation of students in the Learner Instruction Educational Programs. As a result, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) established the Minnesota Standardized English Learner Procedures. The procedures for identification, placement, and exit must be used by all districts and charter schools across the state.

Districts must wait until ACCESS test scores are available before beginning the exiting process. The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has established the following criteria that all districts must adhere to for exiting students from the program.

  • If a student has an overall composite score of at least 4.5 and all four domain scores (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) of at least 3.5, that student has met the ACCESS proficiency score and must be exited from the Language Instruction Educational Program (LIEP).
  • If a student has an overall composite score of at least 4.5 and three out of four domain scores (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) of at least 3.5, that student has met the ACCESS proficiency score. The district must use additional EL Exit Criteria to determine if the student should be exited from the LIEP or kept in the program for additional instruction.
  • If a student has not met the ACCESS proficiency score, the student must continue to receive instruction in an LIEP.  The district may not exit that student from the LIEP.

When any new family registers in Willmar Public Schools they are required to complete the Minnesota Language Survey (MNLS). The MNLS asks parents to provide information related to their student’s language use:

  • The language(s) your student first learned.
  • The language(s) your student speaks.
  • The language(s) your student understands.
  • The language(s) your student has consistent interaction with.
  • English language proficiency (ELP) Screener.

If any language other than English is indicated for any of these four questions then the student is given an English Language Proficiency Screener to determine the student’s current proficiency level in English in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Incoming kindergarten students are given the WIDA MODEL, while students in grades 1-12 are given the WIDA Screener. The results are reviewed by trained district staff to determine if the student is already proficient in English, or if the student may benefit from English language instruction.

Only a student who has a completed Minnesota Language Survey (MNLS), participated in the grade-appropriate English language screening assessment, and has been identified as a multilingual learner can be enrolled in an English language educational program.

After initial identification as a multilingual learner, the student is placed in a Language Instruction Educational Program (LIEP). At Willmar Public Schools, there is a written plan of service for each school level that contains the amount and score of service that a student is eligible to receive. See the plan of service for each school level:

A parent/guardian has the right at any time to withdraw the student from the LIEP by providing written notice of this intent to the school principal or to the district superintendent. The parent/guardian may re-enroll the child in the LIEP upon request.