When students register, they are asked if they speak another language other than English and if another language is used in the home. If the answer is 'yes' to either or both of these questions, then we are required by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to screen them for the ESL program.
Students are screened in Missouri using the WIDA screener. If a student is in grades 1-12 and receives a qualifying score on the screener, he or she is in the ESL program. If they are in kindergarten, then they are automatically in ESL. However, the student's score on the screener will determine whether or not they will receive ESL services. The reason for this is kindergarteners often do not know how to read and write when they start the school year, which is when we do most of our screening. Due to this, we can only test them on listening and speaking at the beginning of the year. If they miss zero or one point, then the kindergartener may take the listening and reading parts of the screener after the first quarter. If they score high enough, then they are exited from the program and do not take the state English proficiency test.