The goal of our English Language Education Program is to provide students with a program of study that is inclusive and that honors the various language and cultural representatives found within our student population. It takes into account federal and Massachusetts’ laws and guidelines about educating public school English Learners.

ESL Services 

After the identification of a student as an EL, the ESL teacher, in consultation with the child’s teaching team, will prioritize students’ linguistic needs when planning the level of services students will receive. WIDA Screener results and a review of students’ previous academic records (if available) will produce initial English proficiency information about a student. The ELE program provided should incorporate flexibility to make adjustments in service delivery based on the additional data gathered following the initial placement. 

Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten

As students at this age are developing language in general, ESL teachers should be involved in the planning of English language development services for ELs at that age and those services should generally be provided in the context of an inclusive, language-rich classroom environment and actively support both social and academic language.

Grades 1-12

The ESL teacher will choose instructional delivery approaches(s) that are most suitable for student context and their students’ needs (self-contained, pull-out, push-in, co-teaching, or embedded).

In general, Harvard Public School follows this chart of delivery approaches, but it may be adjusted based on individual student needs: