English Learners

Wyoming Department of Education > For District Leadership > English Learners

Contact Information

EL/Foreign Language Consultant
Antoinette Hallam
(307) 777-5217
antoinette.hallam@wyo.gov
Title III Program Manager
Jessica Fancher
(307) 777-8964
jessica.fancher3@wyo.gov

English Learners (ELs) are those students in Wyoming schools whose primary language is a language other than English. English Learners enter Wyoming schools with a variety of language backgrounds, educational experiences and levels of English proficiency. Wyoming State educational agencies, local education agencies and schools are held accountable for increasing English proficiency and core academic content knowledge of English learners.

Wyoming is part of the WIDA (World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment) Consortium, a member-based organization, which provides a flexible suite of tests suitable for all students in Grades K-12 who have been identified as Active English language learners. WIDA is dedicated to the design and implementation of high standards and equitable educational opportunities for English language learners which offers programming for identifying and annually assessing the English language development of its English learners.

Districts, teachers, families can find resources on the WIDA webpage to better understand assessment, instruction, and growth of English Learners and educators. Their Resource Library is full of useful information and documents for everyone connected to an EL student. 

Federal Statutes and Guidance for ELs
Title III funding is provided to the WDE by the United States Department of Education (USED). The WDE allocates funding to Wyoming school districts based on the number of Active EL students identified in each district. Wyoming uses the various WIDA Screeners (dependent on grade level) to identify a student as an Active EL for Title III funding purposes. Students who score below proficient on either the MODEL, WIDA Screener for Kindergarten, or WIDA Screener are included in the count of Active ELs, which is reported by each district in the WDE684 October data collection.

Identification

The identification of a student as an Active English Learner in Wyoming is a three-step process. Federal statute requires that students are accurately identified, so they may receive English Language services. 

  1. Home Language Survey
  2. Follow-up Family Interview
  3. English Language Proficiency Screener

Serving English Learners

LEAs must monitor the progress of all ELs in achieving English Language Proficiency (ELP) and in acquiring content knowledge. Districts should establish rigorous monitoring systems that include benchmarks for expected growth and take appropriate steps to assist students who are not adequately progressing towards those goals. 

Assessing English Learners

The ACCESS English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA)  is taken annually by Active English Learners (ELs) in Kindergarten through Grade 12.

WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition 

Supporting Families

Learning about your EL families provides important information about students’ ethnic, linguistic, cultural and education backgrounds, and family situations, which can help districts match students with the appropriate services and programs

Quarterly Webinars 

Other Resources

English Learner (EL) Status Manager  

The EL Status Manager is a English Learner tool for districts which serves two purposes: 

  1. Provides EL historical information based on Wyoming data.
  2. Allows District Test coordinators to apply for an override of an Active EL Status and correct monitoring and/or reporting classifications.

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Professional Organizations