Durango School District 9-R ELD Program Overview
The essential role of a culturally and linguistically responsive English language development program is to support students’ learning by helping them build bridges between what they already know and what they still need to learn. The Language Instruction Educational Program (LIEP) of Durango School District is an English as a Second Language (ESL) or English Language Development (ELD) model.
This is an “All-English” program in which direct English language and literacy instruction is given by certified ELL staff. Newcomers, Non-English Proficient learners and Low-Limited English Proficient learners receive data-driven, direct English language instruction from the ELL teacher. Language instruction is also delivered by non-ELL (regular classroom or intervention) teachers across all content areas. It’s important in an All-English program that parents use the primary language at home to help students with underlying conceptual content knowledge. Thus, parent involvement is important as well as identifying school or community resources that allow students to interact with speakers of their native language.