Instruction

Program Options

Long Beach Unified School District offers several instructional programs for English learners to help them learn how to comprehend, speak, read, and write in English and build knowledge in core content areas of math, science, reading/language arts, and history/social science.

English-language Programs:

1. Intensive Structured English – for English learners who have scored at Beginning – Early Intermediate on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT)
2. English Language Mainstream – at the elementary level, based on the English learners’ level of English-language proficiency and academic achievement in core content areas, instruction is differentiated as Structured English (SE) and Transitional Structured English (TSE). At the secondary level, in addition to SE and TSE programs, Mainstream Plus 2 (MP2) and Mainstream Plus (MP) are also offered.

Alternative Programs:

1. Dual Immersion - for English learners and English only students, instruction is provided in both English and Spanish to develop students’ proficiency in both languages. This program option requires an annual parental exception waiver.
2. Native Language - provides a foundation for learning in the student’s native language with a transition to English. This program option requires an annual parental exception waiver.

For more detailed information on the programs available to English learners:

• Program Options, K – Grade 5
• Program Options, Grades 6 – 8
• Course Sequence, Grades 6 – 8
• Program Options, Grades 9 - 12
• Course Sequence, Grades 9 - 12

Catch-Up Plans

The LBUSD “Catch-up” plans were designed by the Testing and Accountability Unit in the Research Department and are updated annually. These “catch-up” plans look at English learners by time in program, standardized test performance, and district assessment criteria. The plans are used to determine which students are making satisfactory progress and overcoming academic deficits while moving towards English-language proficient status and which students may need additional support and/or interventions.

The Research Department provides all sites with “English learner profile” data for all English learners enrolled at the site. Using the profiles and the appropriate grade-level “catch-up’ document, site instructional staff can assess English learners’ academic progress in accordance with state and federal accountability measures.

To view the Catch-up Plans by grade spans:

• Catch-Up Plan - K
• Catch-Up Plan - Grade 1
• Catch-Up Plan - Grades 2-5
• Catch-Up Plan - Grades 6-12

Interventions:
Closing the Achievement Gap for English Learners

Educating Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students

The District is committed to accelerating English-language proficiency and high academic achievement for all English learners. It is important to recognize that not all English learners have the same academic background or language proficiency in their primary language, nor are they at the same stage of English-language acquisition. Some of our English learners are recent arrivals, yet many were born in the United States and live in non-English-speaking homes. To help these students learn English and learn in English, the District has adopted a program of simultaneous academic instruction, appropriate to the students’ level of English-language proficiency and aligned to the State standards, which is supported by differentiated instruction.

Recognizing that differentiating instruction may also require more intensive intervention for some students, the District co-sponsored Assembly Bill 2989 which requires students performing below the proficient level on the California Standards Test to participate in an intervention program.  This intervention policy was later adopted by the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education on December 19, 2006 (Board Policy 5123).

In response to the a need to assist English learners in building background knowledge and content vocabulary necessary to meet grade-level standards identified for  English Language Arts, Science, and Math and thereby achieving a grade of ‘C’ or better in the core courses, special content English Language Development (ELD) extended-day intervention courses have been designed for English learners. These intervention courses use instructional methodology and materials designed to provide more comprehensible input and literacy development through the content area. Interventions to support English learners build oral language and augment reading and writing skills have also been implemented.

For more information on interventions:

• Placement Criteria for Interventions for English Learners
• Strategic Interventions