English Language Development (ELD/ESL)

Cumberland Valley is a community of culturally and linguistically diverse students! We value the diversity and wealth of experience and knowledge that each student brings to his or her school community. We strive to ensure that every student feels welcomed, valued, and successful, regardless of language background.

        


Please review the information below and click the links to the left to learn more about the
ELD program at CVSD. The ELD program is a part of the Student Services Department.


DID YOU KNOW…

there are approximately 600+ English language learners at various stages of acquiring English language proficiency in the Cumberland Valley School District ELD program?

over 70 languages are currently spoken by Cumberland Valley students? Can you name even 30 languages?

the top five languages spoken by CV ELD students are: Spanish, Nepali, Arabic, Korean and Russian?

the ELD population in the Cumberland Valley School District has grown by more than 25% in the last five years?

there are students in the ELD program whose first language is English? Guess where they are from and why they would need ELD? (Guyana, Kenya, Nigeria; the English spoken in these countries is significantly different from the English we speak in the United States, enough to qualify the students from these countries as English language learners.)

learning to SPEAK English is not the goal of ELD instruction; CVSD seeks to help students achieve English proficiency across the content areas in listening, speaking, reading, and writing academic English.

even though a student may appear to communicate well verbally and have a grasp of the English language, it can take 7-12 years for an ELD student to achieve grade-level norms in English, depending on the student’s level of literacy in his or her first language? (Cummins, 1979)

Math is not the universal language! Most high school math is comprised of word problems that require an understanding of English in order to read and solve?!


As required by state and federal law, and in alignment with the goals and objectives of the Cumberland Valley School Board, Cumberland Valley School District provides a program for all students whose primary language is not English to assist them in acquiring English language proficiency. 

Cumberland Valley School District uses a combination of models to educate English language learners:

  • Pull-out

§ Excellent for beginning English Learners (ELs) for oral language development and to build confidence

§ Small group instructional setting

§ Slower pace than mainstream classroom

  • Push-in

§ Excellent for intermediate and advanced ELs

§ Grade-level academic support is provided to ELs in the mainstream classroom

§ ESL teachers provide scaffolds and content-area language development

  • Structured English Immersion

§ Recommended for advanced ELs

§ Inclusion type setting of instruction

§ Mainstream teacher takes responsibility for language development

§ ELs have access to grade-level content

  • Sheltered English

§ Recommended for newcomers or students with limited/interrupted formal education only

§ Pacing is adjusted to meet individual needs

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