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Category: English Learners (ELs)

Implementation and Outcomes of the Together is Better Program: 2022-23

Implementation and Outcomes of the Together is Better Program: 2022-23

Together is Better (TIB) is a program that supports the implementation of a co-teaching English Learner (EL) model in a small subset of District schools. This report focuses on the final year of grant-funded TIB program implementation (2022-23) in order to understand program implementation and participants’ experiences with the program, and to inform future supports for teaching EL students and co-teaching.

Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL): 2022-23 Implementation Report

Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL): 2022-23 Implementation Report

The 2022-23 Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) initiative in SDP consisted of a series of professional development opportunities for K-12 educators across 29 schools. This report summarizes the results of a year-long implementation evaluation of the QTEL initiative.

Exploring the Diversity and Supports for School District of Philadelphia English Learners as they Prepare to Transition to High School

Exploring the Diversity and Supports for School District of Philadelphia English Learners as they Prepare to Transition to High School

This Philadelphia Education Research Consortium (PERC) study shines a spotlight on ELs in 7th and 8th grade, describing the diversity of home languages spoken, countries and regions of birth, and duration of EL status across the population of English Learners in the years leading up to their transition to high school.

English Learner (EL) Home Language and Enrollment Trends in the School District of Philadelphia: 2014-15 to 2022-23

English Learner (EL) Home Language and Enrollment Trends in the School District of Philadelphia: 2014-15 to 2022-23

From 2014-15 to 2022-23, English Learner (EL) enrollment in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) increased both in number of students and as a percentage of the total student population. With this growth, the diversity of home languages spoken in SDP students’ households also increased. The analyses conducted for this brief aim to summarize the growth patterns of EL enrollment and home language diversity in SDP over time. 

English Learner Performance on the 2021-22 ACCESS, Star Reading, and Star Math Assessments

English Learner Performance on the 2021-22 ACCESS, Star Reading, and Star Math Assessments

The ACCESS assessment is administered to English Learners (ELs) annually each winter to measure their progress toward English proficiency. Star Computer Adaptive Tests (CATs) are a suite of assessments administered 3-4 times during the school year to students in grades K-12 that measure students’ reading and math skills, monitor achievement and growth, and track how well students understand skills aligned to state and Common Core standards. Although some ELs are excused from participation in Star, most take Star Reading and Math. This report examines EL performance on the ACCESS and EL performance on Star within the context of ACCESS performance.

English Learner (EL) Enrollment Trends in the School District of Philadelphia: 2015-16 to 2019-20

English Learner (EL) Enrollment Trends in the School District of Philadelphia: 2015-16 to 2019-20

The School District of Philadelphia’s English Learner (EL) population includes students from over 130 countries who speak over 100 different languages. By tracking the enrollment trends of ELs in the District, we can identify Learning Networks that have growing EL populations and allocate resources to accommodate for the programs and supports that benefit ELs.

Exploratory Analysis of English Learners’ Identified Race/Ethnicity and Home Language in the School District of Philadelphia, 2019-20

Exploratory Analysis of English Learners’ Identified Race/Ethnicity and Home Language in the School District of Philadelphia, 2019-20

Reporting by racial/ethnic subgroup and by English Learner status are crucial tools for investigating disproportionalities, targeting student supports, and monitoring the progress of equity initiatives. However, when student groups are identified in this way, it highlights differences between groups, but may also imply that the differences within those groups are unimportant, or even absent. This brief aims to surface some of the internal diversity within racial/ethnic groups, and within home language groups, by exploring the intersection of race/ethnicity and home language among our students.

A New Way to Measure School-Level Linguistic Diversity

A New Way to Measure School-Level Linguistic Diversity

The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) serves a diverse student population, and language is a key dimension of this diversity. However, linguistic diversity is not distributed uniformly across schools, and some schools serve students with a much wider variety of linguistic backgrounds than others, requiring different resources and support strategies as a result. The Office of Research and Evaluation has developed a new indicator to better describe the predominant composition of the EL population at a given school.

Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) Summer Institute: 2020-21 Implementation Report

Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) Summer Institute: 2020-21 Implementation Report

This 16-page brief focuses on the 2020-21 Summer Institute, designed to to provide teachers with a firm foundation of theoretical understanding and corresponding strategies for teaching conceptual, analytic and disciplinary language practices academic language to all students.

Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL): 2019-20 Implementation Report

Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL): 2019-20 Implementation Report

In 2019-20, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) implemented the QTEL initiative with 115 teachers in grades 6-12 from 29 SDP schools. This 45-page report reviews all components of SDP’s QTEL implementation in 2019-20.