Child getting pulled out for ESL help but isn’t an English language learner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think if you write on the intake form whether ‘any other languages are spoken at home’ then they evaluate the child for esl.

This is the answer.

OP - Yes evaluate is fine, but if he passed the test then why the pullouts all year?

I’m very surprised they didn’t talk to you about that.my teacher wanted my first grader to have pull outs to work with the handwriting specialist and she emailed me to ask first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child was pulled out all year and you didn't ever hear about it?

DP. I believe it. Schools feel they have the right to do this and don’t really worry about the loss of class time.

The stupidity of this thread is mind boggling. First, if this kid was pulled out, it was for instruction, not to play Monopoly.

OP-what is getting in the way of you calling the school and asking to speak to this ESOL teacher to find out what was going on. I’m confused as to why you would come to an anonymous forum before talking to the people at school.

ESOL teachers can work with a variety of students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think if you write on the intake form whether ‘any other languages are spoken at home’ then they evaluate the child for esl.

This is the answer.

OP - Yes evaluate is fine, but if he passed the test then why the pullouts all year?

Apparently he didn't. I assume this was Kindergarten? My younger (white American) kid talked very little in Kindergarten. So, so shy. They felt her verbal skills were a little behind. They weren't at all--very ahead in fact--but they could not see that. Almost like selective mutism I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your child was pulled out all year and you didn't ever hear about it?

Yes that was my first question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did she say she had taught your child, or that she had pulled your child out? In my school most ELL teaching, except for newcomers with almost no English, is with a push in model, in which the ELL teacher joins classrooms to intensify instruction, with the goal of supporting the English Language Learners, but groupings are flexible. So for some kinds of activities they might divide the class into two heterogenous groups and have them rotate between two teachers (ELL and gen Ed) for two different lessons, or the they might both pull small groups for phonics divided by level and your kid happened to be in one of the groups the ELL teacher pulled.

The other possibility is that the form you filled out with information about home language led to him being assessed. Those forms are screening forms. Screening forms of all kinds are designed to catch a group that is too large because the idea is that you then refine the group during assessment. In my district (and I think this is federal law), the form screens for kids who are born in other countries (even if it’s Canada) or who hear another language spoken in the household (even if its only between mom and Grandma). Those kids are then assessed and released from ELL services. So they have 1 or 2 individual interactions with the ELL teacher.

Another possibility is that the ELL teacher was wrong and got OP’s kid mixed up with another Asian boy. OP, did you ask your son about whether he worked with anyone besides the classroom teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child was pulled out all year and you didn't ever hear about it?

DP. I believe it. Schools feel they have the right to do this and don’t really worry about the loss of class time.

The stupidity of this thread is mind boggling. First, if this kid was pulled out, it was for instruction, not to play Monopoly.

OP-what is getting in the way of you calling the school and asking to speak to this ESOL teacher to find out what was going on. I’m confused as to why you would come to an anonymous forum before talking to the people at school.

ESOL teachers can work with a variety of students.

OP here - because before I call them I want to know what is normal or not. I’m not a teacher and don’t work in public schools.

[Anonymous]

I’m an ESOL teacher and I sometimes pull non-ESOL students into my small group. They need additional support learning letters and sounds. It doesn’t mean they are an ESOL student.

[Anonymous]

I"ve heard this from other parents. Money. They get more money for ESOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think if you write on the intake form whether ‘any other languages are spoken at home’ then they evaluate the child for esl.

This is the answer.

OP - Yes evaluate is fine, but if he passed the test then why the pullouts all year?

How was he getting pulled out all year without you knowing that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child was pulled out all year and you didn't ever hear about it?

DP. I believe it. Schools feel they have the right to do this and don’t really worry about the loss of class time.

The stupidity of this thread is mind boggling. First, if this kid was pulled out, it was for instruction, not to play Monopoly.

OP-what is getting in the way of you calling the school and asking to speak to this ESOL teacher to find out what was going on. I’m confused as to why you would come to an anonymous forum before talking to the people at school.

ESOL teachers can work with a variety of students.

OP here - because before I call them I want to know what is normal or not. I’m not a teacher and don’t work in public schools.

Call and email them and tell them that your son speaks and understands perfect English. You don't want him pulled out and if they argue tell them this is racist and he was only targeted as an asian, not his ability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child was pulled out all year and you didn't ever hear about it?

DP. I believe it. Schools feel they have the right to do this and don’t really worry about the loss of class time.

The stupidity of this thread is mind boggling. First, if this kid was pulled out, it was for instruction, not to play Monopoly.

OP-what is getting in the way of you calling the school and asking to speak to this ESOL teacher to find out what was going on. I’m confused as to why you would come to an anonymous forum before talking to the people at school.

ESOL teachers can work with a variety of students.

If this child speaks in English and its their first language its inappropiate and its probably about money.

[Anonymous]

This happened to me when I was in 2nd grade (in the late 80s). My mom only found out because they told her how well I was doing in ESOL during back-to-school night, at which point she informed them that I'm a native English speaker and they pulled me back out. I can totally believe that this sort of crap still happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child was pulled out all year and you didn't ever hear about it?

DP. I believe it. Schools feel they have the right to do this and don’t really worry about the loss of class time.

The stupidity of this thread is mind boggling. First, if this kid was pulled out, it was for instruction, not to play Monopoly.

OP-what is getting in the way of you calling the school and asking to speak to this ESOL teacher to find out what was going on. I’m confused as to why you would come to an anonymous forum before talking to the people at school.

ESOL teachers can work with a variety of students.

Typically when schools do pull-outs they make no effort to catch the kid up with what was missed in class, and they also resist when you request that the pullout be scheduled for a less important class. ask me how I know. I declined most of my kid’s pullouts once it became clear that they had no intention of helping him make up the lost class time. Less important in early elementary but there are still key lessons that it hurts a kid to miss. I would be livid if I found out they were pulling my kid without telling me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an ESOL teacher and I sometimes pull non-ESOL students into my small group. They need additional support learning letters and sounds. It doesn’t mean they are an ESOL student.

How do you decide they just don’t need to be in class during that time?

[Anonymous]

If a child is evaluated for ESOL services, notification should be sent home, along with the results.

If a child is seen for intervention, parents should be informed of the type of interventions they receive (usual small group for reading or math instruction). Most schools now typically have a classroom teacher and a co-teacher who is either a special education or English learner teacher. They service the students on their caseload as well as providing instruction to other students on a more ad hoc basis. For example, my ESOL teacher meets with lower EL students for a reading group, and does math intervention with both higher EL students and general education students who have similar needs (for example, a group of six kids who need to review place value) while I do interventions with other students (some EL, some not). Classes are so diverse now that students often move flexibly between teachers depending on how we divvy up instruction for the day.

You can and should open communication with the teacher about what kind of support your child receives, and from whom, and why. Usually at back to school night both/all cotechers are present to answer questions.