What is the LIEP?
Each spring, students learning English in the state of Iowa take part in the annual ELPA21 summative language assessment. One of the results of this testing is that school districts are able to view student progress toward English language proficiency.
Language proficiency data also offers the opportunity to measure to what degree current ESL program models are effective in supporting academic content and English proficiency goals. What some educators may not realize, however, is that school districts are required to adapt and improve current ESL program models if their students are not making sufficient or timely progress in acquiring the English language and/or progressing in their academic content classes.
The Language Instruction Education Program, or LIEP, is a school district's plan on how they will support both the academic English language growth as well as content area knowledge for those students for whom English is not their first language.
The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a starting point in understanding the factors that influence decisions around creating or maintaining effective ESL programs.
Some of the crucial documents to support deeper understanding around this topic are included for ease of access. These include the "Dear Colleague Letter of 2015" as well as the "OELA English Learner Toolkit."
The information in this newsletter provides an introduction to the topic of ESL Programs and Models that may be implemented in our schools. It is important to note that more than one model may be utilized within a district. In fact, ESL models should be tailored to the specific needs of current students not only within the district, but perhaps within different schools across the same district.
To develop a deeper understanding and access support in considerations around revising your schools' ESL Program Model, please reach out to your ESL/Diversity Consultant at Heartland AEA. You may find the school districts that each consultant directly supports at this link.
Sheltered Instruction Programs
Sheltered Instruction from the Center for Applied Linguistics
This brief discusses fundamental components of sheltered instruction, including content and language objectives, and instructional strategies.
IRIS Center - Sheltered Instruction
Within sheltered instruction, teachers offer comprehensible input—teaching at a level that is just beyond the students' current level of language competence.
