Pre-K Rules for ELLs Would Break Ground Nationally

Districts Would Have to Identify and Give Support to Youngsters

Questions are being raised about proposed regulations that would impose the same requirements on Illinois school districts about educating English-learners at the preschool level as for older students.

The Illinois board of education is poised to adopt those regulations next month. Should the board do so, it is believed that Illinois would have the most prescriptive regulations in the nation for ELLs in preschool. Accountability provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act don’t apply to preschoolers.

“We’ve been very proud [of Illinois education] on two fronts, the transitional bilingual education that we provide our students and our early-childhood-education programs,” said Jesse Ruiz, the chairman of the state school board. The proposed ELL regulations would bring the two strengths together, he said, to ensure preschoolers get...