The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is requesting approval from the U.S. Department of Education to update its approved consolidated Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Maine is submitting an amendment to clarify and provide consistency regarding the entrance and exit procedures for multilingual (ML)/English language learner (ELL) students. (Please note that the Maine DOE utilizes the term “multilingual” learner whenever possible; however, federal language utilizes the term “English language” learner).
Public comment will be open beginning Monday, March 24, 2025 through Monday, April 7, 2025.
Theclarifications within the amendment to entrance and exit procedures for ML students include:
- If a primary/home language other than English is indicated on the Language Use Survey, the student will be administered an English language proficiency screener.
- Maine will continue to use a composite score of 4.5 on the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 assessment as the only mechanism through which a student may exit from MLL (ELL) status.
- Maine’s policies and procedures to identify and exit MLs continue to be disseminated annually to school administrative units (SAUs); are posted to the Maine DOE webpage; and are provided in a Maine DOE policy through Administrative Letter #56: Legal Requirements to Provide English as a Second Language Services to English Learners.
- Resources including Maine’s Identification and Placement Guidance are located on the WIDA state page and the Maine DOE’s ML Identification webpage. This document includes information pertaining to:
- Standardized entrance and exit procedures.
- Assessment administrator qualifications.
Comments regarding the proposed amendment, as well as additional questions, may be sent to Daniel Weeks, Maine DOE Title III Coordinator, at daniel.r.weeks@maine.gov. All comments must be received by 4 p.m. on Monday, April 7, 2025.
