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English Learners
When a student is enrolled in school, parents must complete a Primary Home Language Other Than English (PHLOTE) Home Language Survey (HLS) that asks three language questions. If a student’s PHLOTE indicates a language other than English for any of the three questions, then the district follows the EL (English Learner) identification process to determine if the student requires an AZELLA (Arizona English Language Leaner Assessment) placement test, as required by law, or has current EL assessment data on record with the state. For both situations, if the student’s overall score is less than proficient, the student qualifies to participate and will be placed in one of our EL programs.
The Vision for English Leaners
SVUSD’s vision is to help EL students quickly learn English and move into mainstream classes with the depth of English knowledge necessary for rigorous classwork.
The English Learner program in Sierra Vista Unified School District (SVUSD) is implemented through the office of Exceptional Student Services (ESS.) All students who have been designated as English Learners (ELs) per AZELLA results will receive English language development (ELD) instruction through one of two research-based Structured English Immersion (SEI) models that have been approved by the Arizona Department of Education. The two SEI models are the Pull-Out SEI Model and the Two-Hour SEI Model. Both models include integrated and targeted instruction. Integrated instruction is implemented in content-area courses and the classes consist of EL and non-EL students. The content-area teachers design instruction that integrates language and literacy development with content learning to help students develop disciplinary content knowledge, language, and autonomy. Targeted instruction is taught by EL teachers and the classes consist of EL students only. The teachers use the English Language Proficiency Standards with content material to teach language (listening, reading, writing, and speaking.)
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