Stoplight Packet
ESOL Levels and Accommodations
In this packet, you will find the following information:
1. Why are modifications necessary in ALL classes?
2. Who are the ELL students in my grade?
3. How do I modify for each level?
Learning is like approaching an intersection. As students come to the crossroads,
instruction may need to stop, slow down, or proceed with caution.
Stoplight Packet
ESOL Levels and Accommodations
Q: What legal obligations do schools have to English language learners (ELLs)?
A: Under civil rights law, schools are obligated to ensure that ELLs have equal access to education.
Approximately 5 million students in U.S. schools have limited English language skills that affect their ability to participate
successfully in education programs and achieve high academic standards (NCELA Fast Facts1). It is the responsibility of schools
to ensure that all students, including these English language-learning (ELL) students, have equal access to a quality education
that enables them to progress academically while learning English. The specific services to be provided are not specified by
federal or state law; however, legislation provides the following broad outlines.
In 1970, the federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a memo regarding school districts' responsibilities under civil rights law
to provide an equal educational opportunity to ELLs. This memorandum stated:
Where the inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national origin minority group children from effective
participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language
deficiency in order to open its instructional program to these students.
Although the memo requires school districts to take affirmative steps, it does not prescribe the content of these steps. It does,
however, explain that federal law is violated if:

Students are excluded from effective participation in school because of their inability to speak and understand the language
of instruction;

National origin minority students are inappropriately assigned to special education classes because of their lack of English
skills;

Programs for students whose English is less than proficient are not designed to teach them English as soon as possible, or
if these programs operate as a dead end track; or
 Parents whose English is limited do not receive school notices or other information in a language they can understand.
In its 1974 decision in Lau v. Nichols, the United States Supreme Court upheld OCR's 1970 memo. The basis for the case was
the claim that the students could not understand the language in which they were being taught; therefore, they were not being
provided with an equal education. The Supreme Court agreed, saying that:
There is no equality of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers, and
curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education.
The case reaffirmed that all students in the United States, regardless of native language, have the right to receive a quality
education. It also clarified that equality of opportunity does not necessarily mean the same education for every student, but
rather the same opportunity to receive an education. An equal education is only possible if students can understand the
language of instruction.
Within weeks of the Lau v. Nichols ruling, Congress passed the Equal Educational Opportunity Act (EEOA) mandating that no
state shall deny equal education opportunity to any individual, "by the failure by an educational agency to take appropriate action
to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by students in an instructional program." This was an important
piece of legislation because it defined what constituted the denial of education opportunities.
The U.S Department of Education's OCR oversees school districts broad discretion concerning how to ensure equal educational
opportunity for ELLs. OCR does not prescribe a specific intervention strategy or program model that a district must adopt to
serve ELLs.
The following guidelines have been outlined for school districts to ensure that their programs are serving ELLs effectively.
Districts should:

Identify students as potential ELLs;

Assess student's need for ELL services;

Develop a program which, in the view of experts in the field, has a reasonable chance for success;

Ensure that necessary staff, curricular materials, and facilities are in place and used properly;

Develop appropriate evaluation standards, including program exit criteria, for measuring the progress of students; and

Assess the success of the program and modify it where needed.
For additional information regarding the provision of equal education opportunity to ELLs, see resources below or contact the Office for Civil Rights
enforcement office at:
Phone: (800) 421-3481, Email: ocr@ed.gov, http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR
Stoplight Packet
ESOL Levels and Accommodations
For a complete listing of stoplight packet modifications, go to http://www.rogers.k12.ar.us/schools/esl/RPS_ESOL_Curriculum.html and look at the column on the far right.
ELL4: Students have skills
in speaking, reading, and
writing English, but need to
be monitored.
ELL3: Students have skills
in speaking English, but
reading and writing skills
continue to develop.
ELL2: Students have skills
in understanding spoken
English, but reading and
writing skills are still limited.
ELL1: Students have little
or no skills in speaking,
reading, and writing English.
ELL
Level
Indicator
The Student Can:
The Teacher Can:
Assess Using:
Red Light:
Stop and
modify!
Listen and understand through lessons using physical
actions or objects; follow models on how to speak English,
with many repetitions; accept or decline invitations to read
and write, feeling assured no judgment will be made on
their attempts
Observe; recognize; locate; identify; classify; practice;
collect; distinguish; categorize; repeat; match; show;
select; construct; assemble; arrange; sequence
Model and allow student to respond using Total
Physical Response (TPR); includes actions such
as pointing, touching, standing, sitting, bringing,
coming, clapping, finding, giving, tapping,
holding, etc.
Use manipulatives, pictures, charts, hands-on
activities, music, arts, flannel boards, puppets,
cooking
Red Light:
Stop and
modify!
Respond to questions/conduct conversations in English
with simple phrases; begin to participate in class
discussions, giving opinions and sharing information; read
and write their names and a few other words; continue
listening lessons, emphasizing speaking through
dialogues, choral and shared reading; complete limited
reading and writing assignments based on their lessons
and lives
Name; recall; give limited examples; draw; organize;
decide; label; group; count; list; categorize
Polish listening and speaking skills; focus on reading and
writing, phonics, word attack skills, vocabulary
development, study skills, handwriting, writing mechanics,
developmentally appropriate writing assignments;
demonstrate excellent listening and speaking skills;
acquire excellent reading/writing skills one level below
grade level; ask for assistance in English; feel comfortable
using oral English
Describe; tell; imagine; restate; create; appraise;
dramatize; contrast; compare; question; map; categorize
Appear to be proficient in English; listen, speak, read, and
write almost as well as native English-speaking peers;
complete lessons when difficult aspects of English are
reinforced
List, underline, review, interpret, compose, dictate, point
out, record, report, predict, express, plan, evaluate,
analyze, create, defend, debate, justify, support, examine,
hypothesize
Continue using activities effective for ELL1
students; increase lesson complexity by
combining two or more TPR activities;
incorporate the use of pantomimes; read to
students daily
Make use of student experiences; use picture
books; teach simple rhymes, songs, chants, and
poems; encourage cooperative learning
Extended time; approved Spanish/English
dictionaries; read aloud assessments in subjects
other than reading; simplified
language/demonstrations for additional practice;
group projects; checklists; scoring rubric that
differentiates between content, style, grammar, and
spelling; posters; drawings; building models; story
retelling; listening exercises; sequencing events;
cloze tests; matching simplified language and
pictures; graphic organizers; labels
ELL1 assessments; simple dictation, simple
developmentally appropriate writing; completing
basic informational forms; read-alouds with short
passages; sentence strips; simplified summaries;
descriptions; response to the 5-W’s; letter-sound
association; dramatizing stories
Yellow
Light:
Modification
is likely
necessary!
Green Light:
You may
proceed,
but the light
could turn
yellow at
any time!
Continue previous modifications; extend learning
experiences by role-playing and drama; combine
pantomime and verbal responses
Use a variety of literary genres including fairy
tales, folk tales, and simple poetry; incorporate
content areas such as science and math; make
use of mental imagery; emphasize speech to
print concepts such as labeling, charting, and
clustering
ELL2 assessments; multi-step instructions;
recounting main idea; giving details and themes
from oral stories; recognition of basic parts of
speech; short group or individual presentations;
peer editing; graphic organizers; writing activities
such as letters or journals
Continue previous modifications; encourage
students to participate in story-telling and
interviews; expect similar verbal responses to
those of Native English speakers; incorporate
American culture into lessons
Use group stories; demonstrate how to use
charts and graphs; include writing experiences
such as student- or class-authored books and
dialogue journals; explain and display semantic
maps and story maps
ELL3 assessments; summaries and paraphrases
of reading material; demonstrations of academic
language; variety of writing prompts; point of view;
new endings to familiar stories; how and why
questions expecting complete sentence answers
Stoplight Packet
ESOL Levels and Accommodations
NT(0): Students have been referred to the ESOL Office for screening, but did not qualify to be tested for ESOL
services.
A school representative contacted the ESOL Office regarding this student’s potential for eligibility in the ESOL program. After reviewing the
Home Language Survey and/or contacting the family, the ESOL Office determined that there was not a significant presence of a language
other than English.
ELL9: Students with severe disabilities have been classified as ELL students based on their PHLOTE status
(Primary Home Language Other Than English).
Some language screening may have been attempted or conducted with this child, but it has been determined that the nature of their disability
prevents an accurate measure of their language ability in any of the four areas of listening, speaking, reading, and/or writing. Modifications
should be used as indicated on their IEP.
ELL4P: Students have skills in speaking, reading, and writing English, but need to be monitored.
This student should be functioning at an academic level essentially comparable to their native English-Speaking peers. We are currently
awaiting transcripts to arrive. Upon receipt of student transcripts, and ensuring they meet requirements for exit from the ESOL program, this
student will be moved to FEP status. If this student consistently has difficulty (that appears to be language-based) with class assignments,
please contact your building’s ESOL facilitator or the ESOL Office at 631-3559.
FEP: This Student was referred to the ESOL Office for screening, and may have received services, but is now
classified as Fluent English Proficient.
This student should be functioning at an academic level comparable to their native English-Speaking peers. If this student consistently has
difficulty (that appears to be language-based) with class assignments, please contact your building’s ESOL facilitator or the ESOL Office at
631-3559.
References
Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 (1974).
U.S. Department of Education. (1999). Programs for English Language Learners: Resource Materials for Planning and Self-Assessments. Office for Civil Rights. Washington, DC: Author. [Online].
Available: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/ELL/legal.html
U.S. Department of Education. (2000). The Provision of an Equal Education Opportunity to Limited-English Proficient Students. Office for Civil Rights. Washington, DC: Author. [Online].
Available: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/eeolep/