English Language Development (ELD)

Welcome to Fremont High School's English Language Development (ELD) program! Our English Learners students come from all parts of the world and enrich the diversity of our school community. Per guidelines from the California Department of Education, students who are designated as English Learners are placed into an ELD course to accelerate their development and acquisition of academic English. The level of ELD a student takes depends on various data points, including but not limited to scores on the English Language Proficiency Assessments of California (ELPAC). 

The curriculum for each level of ELD provides students the opportunity to learn academic English in all four language domains: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Students are asked to produce high-level work, including projects such as:

·     A TedTalk to answer the question “Is technology helping or harming humans?” (ELD 3)

·     A research paper that requires original data collection based on surveys and interviews (ELD 2)

·     An argumentative piece of writing on whether schools should start later (ELD 1). 

Students are asked to read articles from newspapers, magazines and other media to see how English is used authentically. The curriculum is designed based on the next generation California State Standards and meant to provide a rigorous and meaningful learning experience for students to develop the academic language, content knowledge and skills necessary for the 21^stcentury both in the work place and in academia.

In addition to ELD, many of our English Learners also take courses in the content areas (e.g., math, science, social studies) that meet graduation and college requirements. Students are usually placed in a “sheltered” learning environment such that teachers can pay special attention to their students’ academic English needs. Not only are students learning math, science, history, and so forth, but they are also at the same time paying extra attention to the academic English of that discipline. One main goal is to accelerate students’ learning such that they will be prepared to participate in a mainstream learning environment as quickly as possible.

Fremont High School offers three levels of ELD instruction: ELD 1, 2, and 3. Each ELD class is paired with a literature based English class specifically designed for the English learner. When appropriate, ELD students also take sheltered academic content courses such as sheltered World History, sheltered U.S. History, and sheltered math courses  until they are ready for mainstream content courses.

Sheltered classes are taught by trained and certified teachers who use the SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol). SIOP is a research-based and validated instructional model that has proven effective in addressing the academic needs of English learners throughout the United States. For more information on SIOP, please see the links section.

The ELD Program prepares students with an academic foundation that contributes to lasting student achievement. ELD teachers use various second language acquisition strategies to develop English vocabulary and comprehension skills. Instruction in the ELD classroom is conducted in English. Students in the ELD Program have access to the same grade level core curriculum and textbooks that mainstream students receive. ELD students participate in all of the same school activities as their grade level peers in the regular program. In addition, ELD students have the same opportunities to participate in special education or Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) programs provided by the district.

ELD 1 Student	ELD 2 Student	ELD 3 Student
ELD 1A	ELD 2	ELD 3
ELD 1B	Global Lit SH	Lit Writing SH, World Lit SH, Am Lit SH
ELD 1C	World History SH, U.S. History SH, Econ/Gov. SH	World History SH, U.S. History SH, Econ/Gov. SH
Math SH	Math SH	Math SH
Elective	Physics SH	Biology SH, Chemistry SH
P.E.	Elective, World Lang	Elective, World Lang
World Lang	P.E.	P.E.

Course	Description
ELD Level 1A Units:    10 Grades:  9–12 UC/CSU Requirement:     N/A	Recommended: Assessment. ELD 1A focuses on speaking and listening skills for beginning level English Language Learners. This course helps students develop basic interpersonal communication skills. Through quality interactive instruction and activities, the course introduces both communicative and academic vocabulary, covers language patterns, grammatical structure, and oral skills to help the student survive academically in American schools and functionally in society.  ELD 1A course is taken concurrently with ELD 1B.
ELD Level 1B Units:    10 Grades:  9–12 UC/CSU Requirement:     N/A	Recommended: Assessment. ELD 1B emphasizes reading, writing, and literacy skills for the beginning level English Language Learners. Students begin by learning how to compose paragraphs and progress to authoring organized expository and narrative writings, including descriptive, compare and contrast, narratives, and literary response essays. ELD 1B is designed to be a print rich environment including both non-fictional and fictional texts.  ELD 1B course is taken concurrently with ELD 1A.
ELD Level 1C Units:    10 Grades:  9–12 UC/CSU Requirement:     N/A	Recommended: Assessment. Using science and social studies texts, beginning English Language Learners (ELL) will develop knowledge of introductory science and social studies concepts in preparation for subsequent courses in these disciplines. The focus, however, will be on acquiring cross-disciplinary high frequency vocabulary (CALP or Tier 2 words) applicable to all academic areas. In addition, students will learn reading strategies (e.g., how to reconstruct expository information using graphic organizers) and study skills (e.g., how to take notes). Addressing 9-12 Social Studies, Science and ELD standards, this course functions as reinforcement and enrichment of the ELD1A/B curriculum.
ELD Level 2 Units:    10 Grades:  9–12 UC/CSU Requirement:     N/A	Recommended: Assessment. This course is designed for students who already have a foundational knowledge of English in academic and communicative vocabulary, sentence structure, reading of non-fictional and fictional texts, and writing. Through quality interactive instruction and activities, students will continue to build cognitive academic language proficiency in all four skill areas. Texts will be of greater length and complexity. Students will be introduced to additional expository and narrative writing genres, including persuasive, research and biographical essays.
ELD Level 3 Units:    10 Grades:  9–12 UC/CSU Requirement:     b	Recommended: Assessment. This course is designed for advanced learners of English as an additional language. Students acquire sophisticated academic and communicative vocabulary, sentence structure, reading of non-fictional and fictional texts, and writing. Students read non-fictional and fictional texts of demanding length and complexity in various genres to prepare them for advanced mainstream English and courses in other content areas. Through quality interactive instruction and activities, a print-rich environment, and public speaking experiences, students will continue to solidify cognitive academic language proficiency in all four skill areas. Students will be introduced to additional expository and narrative writing genres, including full research reports and reflective essays.
Global Literature and Writing Units:       10 Grades:      9-12 UC/CSU Requirement:     N/A	Required: Intermediate-level English learners enroll in this class concurrently with ELD 2. Students will read literature from different cultures of the world. While the reading is primarily in English, students will be encouraged to share examples of literature from their own native culture. In addition, students will be introduced to the basic elements of literature, including character, setting, plot and theme analysis. The emphasis is on instructing reading and writing strategies to prepare students for Literature/Writing 1 and higher English classes.
Literature and Writing (sheltered) Units:      10 Grades:      9-12 UC/CSU Requirement:            b	Recommended: Assessment.  This course integrates the study of literature with instruction in the writing process.  Students will explore the ideas and issues of literature while improving their writing, speaking, listening, thinking and language skills.  Materials include poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction.
World Literature and Writing (sheltered) Units:      10 Grades:      10-12 UC/CSU Requirement:            b	Recommended: Assessment.  Using works of world literature, the student will explore themes of human experience and inquiry.  The literature will include novels, plays, stories and poetry by historical and contemporary authors from around the world.  This literature-based program provides instruction and experiences for students to build their listening, speaking, reading, writing and thinking skills.
American Literature and Writing (sheltered) Units:      10 Grades:      11–12 UC/CSU Requirement:            b	Recommended: Assessment.  This course provides rigorous and challenging experiences for the student in the areas of critical reading, critical thinking, effective discussion, note-taking, essay test-taking, expository writing and research.  The core of the curriculum is a chronological or thematic study of American literature, its literary periods and major writers.  Outside reading focuses on broader philosophical ideas, encouraging wider reading including classics by American authors.
*Students in the ELD program will concurrently be placed in a sheltered literature course appropriate to their English level. ELD students are assessed yearly for appropriate placement.

When ELD students have met all of the requirements of the ELD Program, they can attend the mainstream education program. This process is called reclassification. Students are reclassified based upon multiple measures and include state standardized tests, such as the CELDT and STAR, teacher judgment, parent input, and other measures of student performance as needed.

The following terms are regularly used in the English Language Development Program:

ELD: English Language Development

EL: English Learners

LEP: Limited English Proficient

FEP: Fluent English Proficient

CELDT: California English Language Development Test

Initial CELDT: The testing process when the child first enters the program.

Annual CELDT: The testing that happens in the fall once the child is enrolled in the ELD Program for one year and has not passed the initial CELDT.

Reclassified: The student has passed the required tests and changes from the status as English Learner to the Fluent English Proficient designation.

SDAIE: Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English

CLAD: Cross-Cultural Language and Academic Development, the certification for a teaching credential that authorizes teachers to work with English Learners

• Updated ELD Content Standards (based on Common Core)
• Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP)
• District ELD Website