TK-12 English Learner Instruction
Comprehensive ELD
Multilingual learners engage with the world in powerful and unique ways. The bilingual brain draws on both the heritage language and the new language being learned, creating connections and fluidity that support understanding of new content. This ability to leverage their full linguistic repertoire has important implications for how we teach Emergent Bilinguals.
By recognizing and valuing the language practices, we can strengthen their cognitive and executive functions. It is essential that we intentionally cultivate both languages and foster cross-linguistic connections to support deeper learning in the multilingual brain.
To ensure all Emergent Bilinguals have access to rigorous and developmentally appropriate learning experiences, we implement a Comprehensive ELD Program. This program consists of both Integrated ELD (iELD) and Designated ELD (dELD), working together as complementary parts of instruction. At every proficiency level and at all ages, Emergent Bilinguals require both integrated language support across the curriculum and dedicated instruction during Designated ELD.
*Please note that MMED uses the term Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) interchangeably with English Learners (ELs).
Designated ELD (dELD)
Designated ELD (dELD) is a protected time in the school day where English Learners receive targeted language instruction. It is taught daily and is based explicitly on the California ELD Standards. The focus is on building the academic language skills that students need to participate fully in all content areas. During dELD, Emergent Bilinguals:
- Engage in collaborative conversations.
- Interpret and analyze a wide range of texts.
- Produce oral and written language appropriate for academic settings.
- Understand how English works—its grammar, vocabulary, and discourse patterns—so they can apply it in real contexts.
Designated ELD is not remedial or isolated, it is purposeful and connected to what students are learning in other subjects. It ensures students are building the linguistic tools they need to access grade-level academic content. Designated ELD must occur every day for every English Learner until they reclassify as Fluent English Proficient.
Integrated ELD (iELD)
Integrated ELD (iELD) provides access to rigorous, grade-level content while simultaneously strengthening English proficiency. Integrated ELD means that every teacher of English Learners is also a language teacher. It happens throughout the entire instructional day and across all content areas (ELA, math, science, social studies, and electives).
- Teachers use the California ELD Standards in tandem with content standards to design instruction. This ensures students learn both academic content and the English needed to express and understand that content.
- Instruction is differentiated based on students’ English proficiency levels, with scaffolds that allow them to access grade-level work while building language.
- Teachers explicitly highlight academic vocabulary, sentence structures, and discourse patterns that are important for success in the subject area.
- Collaboration and interaction with their peers is important. Students talk, listen, read, and write in meaningful ways tied to the subject matter.
