Under Field 10: Length of U.S. Enrollment, how should I report a student born in the U.S.? 

A: U.S.-born students only having attended school in the United States should be reported as 7 or Blank = Not applicable, has always attended U.S. schools.  The length of enrollment of U.S.-born students having attended school outside the U.S. should be reported according to the student's actual time in U.S. schools (0=First year, 1=One year, etc.). 

Under Field 10: Length of U.S. Enrollment, how should I report a student who entered the United States prior to starting kindergarten, thereby having always attended U.S. schools?

For foreign-born (immigrant) students that entered the U.S. at age 3 or older, the student's length of U.S. enrollment should be calculated according to the student's time in U.S. schools.  For example, for a student born in India that entered the United States at age 4 and is now in kindergarten, the length of U.S. enrollment for that student should be reported as 0=First year.   Foreign-born students that entered the U.S. prior to age 3 should be reported as 7 or Blank = Not applicable, has always attended U.S. schools. See definition of immigrant, page 1, paragraph 3 of the DOE-LM Data Layout http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/pdf/LM.pdf.

Should PK students be included on this report?

PK students (language minority and/or immigrant) should only be reported on the DOE-LM if they are receiving direct services through the school district.

How do I report a language level for PK students, since they are not tested for English proficiency?

For PK LEP students being reported, the school can approximate a language level based on the Speaking/Listening indicators for each language level according to the IDOE chart at http://www.doe.in.gov/lmmp/pdf/languagelevels.pdf and use Code 4 ("Other") for Field 6, Instrument Used. Fluent PK students reported for immigrant purposes can be reported as FEP, Code 7 in Field 6.

If a student is tested and found to be fluent, can we stop testing her? And then, how long do we need to continue reporting her in the Language Minority (LM) collection?

Students must continue to be assessed for English proficiency on an annual basis until attaining two consecutive scores of Level 5 on the LAS Links. Even then, you should continue to report such students in the DOE-LM (as FEP, Level 5) until they leave your district.

Should students born outside the U.S. on a military base be reported on DOE-LM?

If the student is not language minority, they do not need to be reported. If the student's home language survey indicates a language other than English, the English proficiency assessment would be administered to identify language minority status. These students are not considered immigrants.

How should foreign-born children adopted prior to school age be reported?

For instance, if a child from China is adopted at 3 months of age, grows up in Indiana and is now in K, does the district need to report the student as an immigrant?

Usually students adopted in infancy would not be considered to have a native language other than English and would not be language minority. According to Title III, immigrant status begins at age 3 so students adopted prior to this age would not be considered immigrants. A foreign-born student, aged 3 or older, must also be in their first three years of U.S. schooling to be considered an immigrant.

How should our school report LEP students whose parents have declined services?

These students are still LEP and should be reported as such in Field 4. Regardless of inclusion in the English language development program, students must continue to be assessed for English proficiency on an annual basis until attaining two consecutive scores of Level 5 on the LAS Links. In Field 13, Instructional Program, please select Regular Instruction Program. These students should still receive basic instructional accommodations (Lau v. Nichols) documented with an Individual Learning Plan (ILP).

Do foreign exchange students have to be reported on the DOE-LM?

Yes. Field 11 asks if the language minority student is foreign exchange.

What is the state’s definition of immigrant as far as length of enrollment?

Per Title III, sec. 3301(6), immigrant children and youth means individuals who “are aged 3-21, were not born in any U.S. state or territory, and have not been attending one or more schools in any one or more States for more than three full academic years.”

We have two students who have Hispanic fathers and American mothers. The students were born in the US, their first acquired language is English, and that is what they speak at home. Therefore, they are not language minority. However, they were reported last year at a different school. What should we do?

These students are not language minority and will not be included in this year’s report.

Would you clarify the statement to report all enrolled students on this report? Do you mean ALL students in the corporation or only ALL Language Minority students?

Please report ONLY enrolled LANGUAGE MINORITY and IMMIGRANT students. If you do not have any students to report, go to the STN Application Center under Data Transfer and Language Minority Input and check the box for “No Language Minority Students” to report.

Anything else we should know?

Data is gathered for language minority and immigrant students enrolled during the collection period.

Our school has two students who just moved to the US and have just begun speaking English, so they are labeled as “beginner” for their English Proficiency Status.  They either weren’t enrolled in time or weren’t given the Fall 2007 LAS Links Placement test, so I can not code that on the LM report.   Can I mark “other”  for this student?  We don’t have any records from any other state, because they just moved here from Mexico.  I am not sure what code to use for “instrument used”. 

No, other is not appropriate for instrument used.  These students must be given the LAS Links Placement Test.  The Placement Test is required for any newly enrolled LEP students. It must be administered and parents notified of the result within 30 days of the beginning of the school year or within two weeks during the school year.  Materials may be ordered through the CTB Help Desk and may be ordered at any time during the school year.

I have a few new students that learned another language first, other than English.  My school district has not administered any tests (LAS, etc.).  Do I record these students on the LM?  If so, how do I code them since they have not been tested?

Any newly enrolled students with a native language other than English MUST be given the LAS Links Placement Test (or Pre LAS 2000 for Kindergarten).  Further, parents must be notified of the result and the available ESL services within 30 days. This is a NCLB requirement.   Materials may be ordered through the CTB Help Desk at (800) 382-9962.    Students must be tested in order to be reported on the DOE-LM.

Under Field 10, Length of Enrollment, what is the difference between first year and one year?

Years of US schools completed is calculated October to October. For example, a student that enrolled in September 2005 would have completed one year of US schooling and would use code 1=one year (because October 1, 2005 to October 1, 2006 = one year completed). Students enrolled after October 2, 2005 would be considered to be in their first year of US schooling and would use code 0=first year.

I have a new student and there is no code for his native language. How do I fill in Field 12, Native Language Code?

Use code 999 – Other. Please call the Division of Language Minority and Migrant Programs at (317) 232-0555 or (800) 382-9962 so that a code can be created for the new language.

How should Field 10, Length of US enrollment, be completed for a student that completed some schooling in the US, then returned to their home country, and has now re-enrolled in our school?

Length of enrollment is calculated cumulatively including all schooling in the US. This does not start over upon re-enrollment.

How do we classify students that are traditional Amish - LEP or FEP? I have always marked them FEP, level 5.

If the Amish student speaks a language other than English at home, they are to be tested with the same English proficiency assessment process as all other language minority students. Based on the assessment, the student will be assigned a level of proficiency 1-5.

We have several students whose first language was other than English. They have been fluent since the beginning of their education with us. What should we put for field 6 (Instrument Used)?

Fluency is determined by use of a State approved English proficiency assessment. If one of these tests were not used, select "Other." As this is a NCLB federal requirement, please ensure that all language minority students are given an English proficiency assessment. Public and Charter schools must use the LAS Links assessment.

In Column 13 (Instructional Program), these models pertain to instruction during the school day. How should assistance that is provided after school be reported?

“Regular Education Program” would be used for students that do not receive English language development services during the regular school day.

We have students who were born in England and only speak English but moved to our school this year. How do we report these students as immigrants since they were born outside the US and are in their first three years of US schools?

These students are immigrant, not language minority. On Field 5, they should be reported as Code 6 – Native English Speaker.

Do foreign exchange students have to be assessed for English proficiency level?

Foreign exchange students should arrive with documentation of their English proficiency level. If the documentation indicates that the student is fluent, then no testing is necessary. If documentation of fluency is lacking, the student should be assessed and provided with English development services if needed.

How does my school report zero language minority students?

To report no language minority or immigrant students in the STN Application Center, under Message Center on the blue menu bar, select Collection Management. Then select Language Minority in the dropdown box and mark the check box under "No Records" for your school.

The last field in my records is blank and I keep getting the error message, “File line [#] does not contain the correct number of data elements.” How do I get Excel to put in enough "data elements" when the file is saved as comma-delimited (CSV)?

Because the last field is the final item in each record and has been left intentionally blank, there is a high likelihood of problems in converting your Excel file to the comma-delimited (CSV) file format. Excel often experiences difficulty knowing how many commas to put in each row when the cell at the end is empty. This can result in an incorrect number of data elements. (A “data element” is the same as an active cell in a spreadsheet.)

The simplest solution to this problem is to put an apostrophe (') - also know as a single quotation mark - in any cell in the last column that is intentionally left blank. This will tell Excel to fill in the comma to indicate a blank item at the end. (Note that you will not be able to see the apostrophe in the worksheet but if you go to the cell, you will see it in the formula editing bar.)