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Entrance and Exit Criteria

When a family registers at Round Lake Area Schools for the first time, they are required to fill-out a Home Language Survey. The Home Language Survey asks two questions.

  1. Is there another language spoken in the home?  If yes, what language?
  2. Does the student speak a language other than English?  If yes, what language?

If the answer is yes to either one of the questions, the State of Illinois requires the district to administer an English language proficiency screener to your child.

All students who qualify for English language services are required by the state to participate in a standardized English language proficiency assessment each year. The assessment called ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English from State to State for English Language Learners), is used throughout Illinois and in several other states.  ALL eligible students must participate in this test even if you have decided not to enroll your child in a language program. The state mandates that your child participate in the ACCESS test annually until demonstrating proficiency in English.

Any student who achieves an overall composite score of 4.8 on ACCESS is considered English proficient by the State of Illinois and will no longer need to participate in the ACCESS test. 

Students enrolled in Transitional Bilingual Education or Transitional Program of Instruction will no longer receive English as a Second Language (ESL) or native language support services. If a student reaches English proficiency in less than 3 years, parents can decide to continue language support services until the student has received 3 full years.  

Students participating in Dual Language will continue in the dual language program, but will not be required to participate in the ACCESS test. 

All students who exit a language program will be progress monitored to ensure they are maintaining English proficiency to be successful in the school setting.