English Learner Identification
Initial Identification and Placement
During enrollment, parents or guardians are asked to fill out the official SMUSD registration form. If any of the 4 answers on the form pertaining to Home Language Survey (HLS) are identified as a language other than English, Education Code Section 60810 requires the district to administer the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) to determine the student’s level of English language proficiency and designated ELA / ELD level. State law (California Education Code sections 313 and 60810) and federal laws (Titles I and III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act [ESEA]) require that local educational agencies (LEAs) administer a state test of English language proficiency to (1) newly enrolled students whose primary language is not English, as an initial assessment, and (2) students who are English learners (ELs), as an annual summative assessment (SA). For California’s public school students, this test is the ELPAC. The ELPAC is used to assess and monitor EL students’ progress toward English language proficiency. EL students continue to take the ELPAC SA annually until they meet their LEA’s reclassification criteria.