Screening Students Proves to Be Crucial

Determining where an English-language learner should be placed at the time of enrollment—and when the student should be moved—is a key part of assuring student success.

By Mary Ann Zehr

Norcross, Ga.

On the day before Lexus Barak Garcia is to start 8th grade in Gwinnett County, Ga., the 12-year-old takes part in a rite of passage shared by English-language learners nationwide: a screening test for students whose parents have said they speak a language other than English at home.

Lexus is a U.S. citizen born in New York City whose native language is Spanish. When he was 2 years old, his mother, Mercedes Garcia, took him to the Dominican Republic, where he lived until coming back last year to live with relatives.

Now, at his suburban Atlanta school district’s central testing center for international students, Lexus is given an English-language-proficiency test created by a consortium of states, along with a math test developed by Gwinnett County’s educators. He also is asked to write a couple...