OAR 581-020-0609: ELL District and School Improvement: District Selection

(1) The Department shall identify school districts that are not meeting objectives and needs of ELL students, taking into consideration the specific learning challenges and demographics of the students. The Department shall consider whether the district has demonstrated a history of not meeting objectives and needs of ELL students as compared to other districts relating to ELL students. (2) To identify school districts that are not meeting objectives and needs of ELL students, the Department shall consider the following student progress indicators in identifying the school districts in need of improvement: (a) The cohort 5 year graduation rate for current and former ELL students; (b) The academic growth of current and former ELL students in grades 6, 7 and 8 as measured by statewide standardized assessments; (c) The growth in language acquisition of current ELL students in grades 1 through 8 as measured by the English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA); (d) The growth in language acquisition of current ELL students in grades 10 through 12, combined as measured by the English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA); and (e) Percentage of former ELL students who enroll in a post-secondary institution after graduation from the district. (3) The Department shall also consider the needs of the district by considering learning challenges and demographic information of students enrolled in the district including but not limited to: (a) The percentage of current and former ELL students as a percent of all students in the district; (b) The percentage of all students in poverty as calculated using the district small area income and poverty estimate (SAIPE); (c) The percentage of current and former ELL students who are economically disadvantaged; (d) The percentage of current and former ELL students who are mobile; (e) The percentage of current and former ELL students who are homeless; (f) The percentage of current and former ELL students who are migrant students; (g) The percentage of current and former ELL students who are recent arrivers to Oregon; and (h) The number of unique home languages of current and former ELL students. (4) After identifying potential districts based on student progress indicators that are not meeting objectives and needs of ELL students, the Department may adjust the list of districts: (a) To achieve geographic diversity of school districts; (b) Based on the percentage of current ELL students identified as needing special education; (c) Based on data trends identified by the Department related to a school district; (d) Based on programs for ELL students within the district which have been shown to either improve high school graduation rates or English language proficiency; and (e) Based on available funding. (5) After identifying the districts that are not meeting objectives and needs of ELL students, the Department shall further identify the districts as: (a) ELL transformation districts; or (b) ELL target districts. (6) The Department may use the demonstrated commitment level of a district’s superintendent and board as a factor in determining whether the district is an ELL transformation or ELL target district. (7) Data used by the Department to identify school districts may be from different school years but must be the best data available as identified by the Department.