Agenda - 11-10-1998 - Attachment #12

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M Rationale for Establishing The Task Force on Educational Services for Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students Over the past ten years or more, the Limited English Proficient (LEP) student population has increased tremendously in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools and across North Carolina. LEP students are students who exhibit difficulty speaking, reading, writing or understanding the English language. LEP students moving into the schools experience a cultural shock as they are faced with a new and unreadable language, new faces, different value systems, different historical heritage, and a strange environment. Many experience frustrations as they attempt to adjust to their new environment and learn how to survive within the school culture. The Chapel Hill - Carrboro City School System began serving LEP students district -wide in 1987 with one teacher working with 67 students. Prior to this district -wide effort to meet the needs of LEP students, the school system contracted with Dialogo, an educational consulting service for non - English speaking students, to serve high school LEP students only. Durham Technical Community College, through a three -year grant, also provided additional class periods of English as a Second Language (ESL) services at the high school level. Presently, there are six and a half ESL teachers serving more about 320 LEP students and meeting the growing and diverse needs of the system's LEP student population. While learners of English in the school system create unique opportunities for educators and students to learn about different cultures and languages, the diverse population also challenges educators to develop programs that afford opportunities for LEP students to succeed in school and reach their goals.. The challenges that the school system faces in meeting the diverse needs of the fast growing LEP student population are multi - faceted, from staffing needs and instructional delivery models to meeting the interpretation and translation needs of LEP students and their families. Additionally, with an increasing number of LEP students beginning to arrive during the past two years with great skill deficiencies in their native language, the challenge of finding available resources to provide adequate support for students' language needs as well as skill development in their native language is critical Finally, as the school system, along with the other 118 school systems across the state, wait to see what state legislators will do this year to provide categorical funding for ESL services, it is essential for the school system to review current ESL practices, delivery models, staffing needs, and other related areas and make recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of services provided this segment of the system's student population.