Local Education Agencies in Pennsylvania are required to follow state mandated procedures for the identification of English Learners.

Students who register and for whom another language is spoken at home as indicated on the Home Language Survey, must be contacted for a parent interview to determine whether they should be assessed with the WIDA Screener. 

The WIDA Screener is the required state assessment to determine if a student qualifies for a Language Instructional Education Program. The screener is available for free on the WIDA website and should be administered only by individuals who are certified to administer the screener. A paper version of the screener may also be used and purchased from the WIDA website (www.wida.us).

All steps that are required for the evaluation of a potential English Learner can be found on the PDE forms attached for Pre-K and Kindergarten Identification Procedures and Grades K-12 Identification Procedures:

The following individuals within the District are responsible for conducting these procedures:

Students are placed into instruction based on the results of their screening score and all teachers who work with an English Learner should have access to the information in order to help plan to accommodate and modify content.

Foreign Exchange students must also be included in this process for identification and must receive a Language Instructional Education Program if they qualify. (A link to the District policy regarding the education of all foreign exchange students is available in the right-hand column.)