CATALINA FOOTHILLS SCHOOL DISTRICT

The foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains

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English Language Learners

In Arizona, the law requires that all students who have been designated as English Language Learners per the AZELLA (Arizona English Language Learner Assessment) will receive a minimum of 120 minutes per day of English language development (ELD) for grades K-5 and a minimum of 100 minutes per day of ELD for grades 6-12.

All students that enter the district and answer one question on the Home Language Survey with a language other than English will take the AZELLA, per Arizona State law.  The results of this assessment will determine placement into the Catalina Foothills English Language Development (ELD) Program. 

The State has adopted four Structured English Immersion (SEI) models to service English language learners, and Catalina Foothills has adopted the SEI Pull-Out model. All four of the models adopted and approved by the state board of education are research-based models of structured English immersion for school districts to use.  In the SEI Pull-Out model selected by Catalina Foothills School District, our students will receive integrated English Language Development in the general education classroom and targeted English Language Development in a small group or class with an English Language Development Teacher.   We will use the English Language Proficiency Standards that were passed in 2019 by the Arizona Board of Education to help guide instruction for our English Language Learners.

At the Elementary school level, ELL’s will have 1 hour of targeted instruction by an ELD teacher with other ELL students and the second hour of integrated instruction will be taught by the general education teacher.   At the middle and high schools, a student will take an English Language Development class in lieu of an elective for targeted instruction and they will receive integrated instruction in their English Language Arts class.

For more information, contact Dr. Erin Matyjasik, 520-209-8081.

Important resources for English Language Learners are listed below:

English Language Learner Definitions (PDF)
Citation Generator - This site is to help a student learn how to cite work from a book, website or other sources.
Important links related to English Language Learners are listed below:

AZELLA
Office of English Language Acquisition Services (OELAS)
Arizona's Language Development Approach (PDF)
Structured English Immersion (SEI) Models