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Legal Foundations of ELD Programs

Legal Foundation for ELD Programs

The education of students who are English  learners is the responsibility of every school district/charter school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (BEC). Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act 2002 ensures that English Language Learners develop English proficiency and meet the same academic content and academic achievement standards that other children are expected to meet.

Title 22, Chapter 4, Section 4.26 of the Curriculum Regulations requires that the school district and charter schools provide a program for every student who is limited English proficient (LEP) or an English learner (EL). The regulation states the following:

Every school district shall provide a program for each student whose dominant language is not English for the purpose of facilitating the student's achievement of English proficiency and the academic standards under §4.12 (relating to academic standards). "Programs under this section shall include instruction in English Language Development."

In accordance with this legislation, the State College Area School District provides English Learners with a planned instructional program appropriate to the student's developmental and instructional level to facilitate the acquisition of English as an additional language.