Plan for Hiring Teachers working with English Learners 

All teachers of any language instruction program for English Learners (ELs) must be fluent and competent in the four domains of language assessed by the English Language Proficiency Assessment: reading, writing, speaking and listening. If personnel have been previously hired without these skills, the district needs to offer help to build the needed fluency. A teacher’s fluency in listening and speaking will be documented, assessed, and evaluated during the interview process. One person in the interview will be responsible for noting listening mistakes, miscues, grammar and syntax mistakes, and judge the level of fluency for both speech and listening. Reading may be evaluated through the reading and responses that show understanding of the application process. Reading will be satisfied through the college transcript if from an English-speaking university. The district may also use a shelf reading comprehension assessment if it is deemed necessary. Writing fluency will also be evaluated. Unless the application requires a writing sample, the district will develop and administer a writing sample during the teacher interview. Ideally the topic will vary. This sample is best done on site so that the interviewee will have no outside editing. The exact requirement from the ESSA is “TEACHER ENGLISH FLUENCY – Each eligible entity receiving a subgrant under section 3114 shall include in its plan a certification that all teacher in any language instruction educational program for limited English proficient child that is, or will be, funded under this are fluent in English and any other language used for instruction, including having written and oral communications skills.” [3116 (c)] The district may also have an assessment designed or contract with an outside agency for this screening.