ELD Program Information

The Northern York County School District’s Department of English Language Development (ELD) [formerly known as English as a Second Language or ESL] provides eligible students that are linguistically and culturally diverse with English language instruction and ensures compliance with state and federal laws and regulations.  A student's English language proficiency and academic background are taken into consideration in order to deliver appropriate English instruction as well as content support at their level.

Our goal for English Learners (ELs) is for them to become independent learners in a school environment. We help ELs gain proficiency in the English language by focusing on the development of academic skills in the domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. We also strive to help ELs and their families successfully adapt to our district and culture while maintaining and valuing their own culture.

The U.S. Office of Civil Rights (Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI) along with Supreme Court Decisions (Castaneda v. Pickard, 648 F .2d 989 [1981]; Lau v. Nichols, 441 U.S. 563 [1974]; Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 [1982]) and Pennsylvania’s own Curriculum Regulations (Title 22, Chapter 4, Section 4.26) require that the school districts and charter schools provide a program for every student who is limited English proficient (LEP) whose first language is not English.  Pennsylvania’s Curriculum Regulations state:

"Every school district shall provide a program for each student whose dominant language is not English for the purpose of facilitating the student's achievement of English proficiency and the academic standards under § 4.12 (relating to academic standards). Programs under this section shall include appropriate bilingual-bicultural or English as a second language (ESL) instruction."

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) issued a Basic Education Circular (BEC 22PaCode S 04.26 7/1/2001), “Educating Students With Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and English Language Learners (ELL)” to provide guidance and groundwork for school districts as the planned program and procedures for ESL students. 

ELD students at Northern York County School District are provided with English Language Development support in mixed classes with English-only support or with native language support, depending on the English proficiency of the student.  All ELD instruction is provided by highly qualified ELD teachers that are passionate about this field of education.

EL - English Learner; someone who learns English.

ELD - English Language Development [also known as ESL] is a class that teaches English to students that speak another language.

ESL - English as a Second Language [now known as ELD] is a class that teaches English to students that speak another language.

TESOL - Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

LEP - Limited English Proficiency

L1 - First Language

L2 - Second Language

TL - Target Language

SLA - Second Language Acquisition

BICS - Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills; English needed for simple conversations; social language

CALP - Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency; English needed for learning; academic language

DI - Direct Instruction

S - Support

ACCESS - Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State; annual test for English language proficiency

Alternate ACCESS - test for students 1st – 12th classified as ELLs and have significant cognitive disabilities that prevent meaningful participation in the ACCESS for ELLs assessment

W-APT - WIDA ACCESS Placement Test

WIDA - World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment

LEA - Local Education Agency; school district

Title III - federally funded language instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students

HLS - Home Language Survey

AMAO - Annual Measurable Achievement Objective; accountability component of Title III

PHLOTE - Primary or Home Language Other Than English