The Language Instruction Educational Program (LIEP)
LEAs are required
to thoughtfully and deliberately plan, resource, and evaluate their LIEP. The
plan and evaluation results must be made available to all staff working with
ELs as well as parents of ELs.
22 PA. Code §4.26 states: 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.
As used here, the term "program" refers
to:
- planned English language development instruction
by a qualified ESL/Bilingual Education teacher, and
- adaptations/modifications in the
delivery of content instruction and assessments by all teachers based on
students' language proficiency levels and the Pennsylvania English
Language Development Standards (PA ELDS) Framework for ELs as well
as the Pennsylvania academic
standards.
You may use the following document to help in the design or review of your LIEP. It contains essential components of the program along with guiding questions. This document is meant to assist in review and development. It is not a comprehensive list of requirements.
Considerations for Program Review Form (Word)
Program Models and Program Design
ELs must have equitable access to academic content for all courses in
which they are enrolled. Regardless of the program model(s) employed, the LIEP must,
at a minimum:
- be aligned
to state academic content standards for the appropriate grade level of the
ELs;
- include ELD
instruction delivered by properly certified teachers who hold an ESL
program specialist certificate or who are working in conjunction with ESL
certified teachers;
- incorporate
the use of the PA ELDS;
- provide equitable
access to content for ELs at all language proficiency levels by providing
research-based bilingual or sheltered instruction with fidelity; and
- not limit
the enrollment of ELs in any course or academic program for which they
would otherwise be eligible.
The foregoing
minimum requirements must be incorporated into the entirety of the student's
daily instructional time.
A LEA may design
its LIEP in many ways, but it must ensure that the program design meets the
needs of its EL population and is based on research and/or a sound educational
theory recognized by at least some experts in the field as legitimate.
Regardless of how
the LEA chooses to organize its program, the Department requires that it be
identified by one of six categories:
- Mixed Class Bilingual
- EL Bilingual
- EL-Specific
Transitional Instruction
- Mixed Classes
with Native Language Support
- EL Specific
English Only Instruction
- Mixed Classes
with English Only Support
For assistance in
choosing the appropriate category for their LIEPs, LEAs may reference the "Classifying Language Instruction Educational
Programs" guidance
document.
English Language Development Within the LIEP
The
following guidance document defines English language development (ELD) and
outlines requirements for including ELD instruction in language instruction
educational programs (LIEPs) as well as requirements for educators who deliver
ELD.
English Language Development Guidance (PDF)
Bob Measel at romeasel@pa.gov or
Julia Hutton at juhutton@pa.gov.